Shedding Skins
by Sugarflier
Summary: Linus Ferrie, a beginning trainer, wants to become the greatest trainer the world has ever seen, and really believes he can do it. Naive little Linus doesn't know what training is actually like and thinks it's all fun and games. Someone's in for a rude awakening.
1. Hope is Overrated

Shedding Skins

Chapter One

Hope is Overrated

* * *

Author's Note :

First of all, thanks for reading this. This is my first fan fiction and I'd like you all to be honest with your opinions. I'm all for constructive criticism, I want to know what I'm doing right and wrong and I'd like to thank anyone in advance for reviewing this.

Disclaimer :

Pokemon is a registered trademark of Game Freak, Nintendo, etc. and not owned by me. This has been done without profit and only for entertainment purposes. All original characters, places, ideas, etc. belong to the author.

* * *

I didn't think I would feel so utterly terrified when receiving my first Pokemon. I had been excited about it for years but when I was standing there, waiting for a Pokemon, I just felt scared.

You see, the League were providing me with a Johto starter because my family were poor and my parents couldn't afford a Pokemon or a trainer's license. The League provided people as poor as me with a starter and trainer's license so that we had the opportunity to train if we wanted to. Richer people had to buy their own Pokemon.

It worked out well for the League because we would buy more Pokemon related goods like Pokeballs, which made them money and more of us would participate in the Championship, again earning them more money.

"Linus Ferrie," the nurse called out. I quite visibly jumped in surprise and got a strange look from a few trainers. I got out of my chair and started walking towards the reception - that walk seemed to be miles long. I reached the reception and took a deep breath, awaiting my first Pokemon and my trainer's license.

The nurse at the reception handed me a laminated piece of paper with my name, age, date of birth, height, weight and every other little detail about me on it - It was my trainer's license. I didn't really care about that and just pocketed it when I received it. Instead of handing me the pokeball, the nurse threw the pokeball to me. Being incapable of both throwing and catching things, I raised my hands to try and catch it but it hit my knuckle, dropped to the floor, released the Pokemon inside in a flash of light and rolled under a table.

I held my breath as I watched the white light from the pokeball take shape. I didn't know what Pokemon it was. Trainers didn't get to choose what Pokemon they received and instead, the League gave out the Pokemon randomly. I was hoping with everything I had to get a Cyndaquil. They're the easiest to train and they're probably the best fire types in Johto. They also looked the best out of the three.

Totodile would have been my second choice. They're physically very strong once they evolve and have a killer bite. They're water type so they can be used for surfing, crossing whirlpools or climbing waterfalls. They look tough but are the hardest and most dangerous to train. I also thought they looked kind of gross.

Chikorita would have been my last choice. The grass type as a whole is quite frail and Chikorita isn't built for attacking, which is what I wanted. They look girly and Meganium looks absolutely ridiculous. It didn't help that they're weak against bug types and flying types; the two types that I would undoubtedly run into the most in the wild.

Want to guess what Pokemon I got saddled with? That's right; a Chikorita. Half of the people in the center burst out laughing at my failure to catch the pokeball. Although, that didn't matter to me as much as it should have. I was too busy being pissed off at my starter to care too much about people laughing. I had to scramble around under the table for much longer than I would have liked to get it's pokeball back, though, which made me even angrier.

I stomped out of the center, angry, embarrassed and with a positively cheerful Chikorita trotting along beside me. I scowled at the plant and returned it to it's pokeball.

I wandered around Ecruteak while considering where to go. I had originally planned on going straight to the Gym to earn my first badge but with such a weak Pokemon I knew I would get stomped into the ground. It was common knowledge that the Gym Leader was one of the tougher ones, much tougher than Morty had been when Gym Leaders were still specialized and had to be fought in a specific order. I saw the Gym's red neon sign in the distance and had the sudden urge to challenge the Leader. Of course, common sense told me not to so I didn't.

I thought about what I could call the plant in the Pokeball that I was idly rolling from hand to hand. My first thought was to call it something insulting but I quickly decided against it. It wasn't the Pokemon's fault that it was a stupid Chikorita. I thought of calling it after a plant but apart from "Tree" and "Flower", I didn't really know of any plants. I would also have liked to be more original than that.

After failing to find a name for the plant and also failing to think of something productive to do, I decided to go to the nearest store to get a few more supplies. I ended up buying some pokeballs, medicine and food, all of which I didn't need, a cheap phone and a chocolate bar.

I sat on a bench outside with the bar of chocolate in one hand and the plant's pokeball in the other. I threw the ball on the floor and it was released in a flash of light just like it had been earlier, complete with the ball rolling under the bench and me having to spend longer than I wanted to trying to get it back once again. I decided that I had to get around to learning how to bounce and catch a pokeball soon.

As soon as I retrieved the ball and sat back on the bench, the plant made a strange noise that I can't even begin to describe. It was like nothing I had ever heard before and I had no idea what it meant. It looked vaguely curious but beyond that, I couldn't tell what it was feeling. I groaned to myself and wished I had a Pokemon that was easier to read, or a psychic or a translator. I broke off a piece of my chocolate bar and threw it to the grass Pokemon but it just sniffed with disinterest. That was when I found out that I also didn't know how to feed it. Just what I needed.

"Don't like chocolate then?" I asked it, not expecting an answer or particularly wanting one. Predictably, it didn't give me an answer. "Can you tell me what you do like?" I asked. Again, I didn't get my answer. I remembered reading somewhere that Chikorita could photosynthesize to make food and hoped that it was true - that would be so much more convenient than having to feed it. "You going to do anything apart from just standing there?" It lay down on it's side, soaking up the sun. There was my answer. I made a mental note to buy the thing a translator as soon as I had enough money for it, although I didn't think that would be any time soon.

I wondered if I could get it to respond to me but I couldn't try getting to respond to it's name since I still hadn't thought of one. "What can I call you?" I asked it. I was still talking to it for lack of human company more than anything else. I realized just then that I didn't even know what gender it was, although I wanted it to be a girl because having a male Chikorita would be weird - I thought they looked far too girly to ever be male.

"Hey, come here," I said to it, hoping it would obey. It got up and I felt somewhat proud of it. That was until it started walking in the opposite direction. I sighed and returned it. I finally thought of something productive to do - If my Chikorita wouldn't listen to me, then I'd have to train it.


	2. Training Hurts

Shedding Skins

Chapter Two

Training Hurts

* * *

"Come on!" I shouted, losing my temper. I knew I shouldn't be getting angry but I did anyway. I had been trying to get my Chikorita to obey commands. Obviously, it wasn't going too well.

I neglected to mention earlier that I'm from Ecruteak. From Ecruteak, I made the half an hour walk to route thirty-seven. I was at the edge of route thirty-seven, picking out the young, weak Ledyba and occasionally a Spinarak for my Chikorita to battle and trying to avoid the likes of Growlithe, Stantler and Pidgeotto.

My Chikorita was mostly taking down Ledyba by tackling and headbutting them. I had found TM 02 - headbutt - lying in the grass and taught it to my Chikorita. It had no trouble taking out the smaller, weaker Pokemon but it wasn't listening to me, it was just fighting the way it saw fit. It had learned that "Hey," meant I wanted it's attention and it knew what "Here," meant, although it would only occasionally respond to that command.

I tried to get it to headbutt some Pokemon out of the surrounding trees but it didn't know what "Headbutt," meant. Bullying the Ledyba into submission was getting too easy for my Chikorita, so I took it upon myself to try and get a stronger Pokemon out of a tree for my Chikorita to battle. I really didn't think this idea through as well as I should have.

I walked up to a tree, leaving my Chikorita to abuse some Ledyba for the time being. I fought my way through some branches, earning myself various cuts and scrapes in the process, until I found the trunk of the tree. I brought my right foot back and swung it forward, kicking the tree as hard as I could. Kicking a solid pillar of wood seems like a pretty stupid idea in hindsight but it didn't seem stupid to me then. I barked out a curse at the new pain in my foot. At least the tree shook a little.

I then thought of a much smarter idea. I simply reached up with both hands, grabbed a branch in each hand and started shaking the tree. A clawed foot came out of nowhere and raked across my face. I grunted and my hand shot to my now bleeding face.

I cursed again and looked up to see what had attacked me. I saw a small, brown bird that could have been a Spearow retreat to the safety of the upper branches. I also saw something much more alarming, however. A giant, blue, angry beetle was glaring at me. I turned and fought my way out of the tree and sprinted towards my Chikorita as fast as I possibly could. That was a bad move.

I had always been told that I needed a Pokemon for my protection if I wanted to walk through the tall grass. When it comes to protection, any starter Pokemon is useless against an angry Heracross.

Heracross are also a lot faster than you'd think. I felt it's fist hit me hard in the back as I was fleeing from it. I cried out in pain and fell on my face, wishing for the pain in my back to just go away. Obviously, it didn't. Instead, the Heracross followed through with a hammer fist to my upper arm while I was still on the ground. I growled to myself in an effort to avoid screaming.

I heard an inhuman screech and I knew immediately that it had came from my Chikorita. I somehow managed to force myself to my feet. Before I knew what I was doing, I was diving at the Heracross while it's back was turned. It fell onto it's face like I had done moments earlier, only I was actually latched onto it's back. I pulled my fist back and punched it in the back of the head with all my might.

Unfortunately, I had not taken into consideration the insect's exoskeleton. The exoskeleton that was there to protect it. The exoskeleton that felt like some form of metal alloy. I cursed under my breath and for the second time in about a minute, found myself in pain from hitting something.

The pause that I took after I punched the Heracross was all the time the beetle needed. It jerked it's body to the side, making me lose balance. I fell off the Heracross' back and landed on my injured arm. I quickly bit back a scream. The Heracross punched me in the ribs and then punched me in the stomach, sending me into a coughing fit. I actually brought up a little bit of blood. It then decided that I had been punished enough and stalked off back towards it's tree. That's about the time I learned that you just don't fuck with certain Pokemon.

* * *

After the beating I took from the Heracross, I just lay there, wishing for the pain to stop. My back, arm, stomach and ribs all hurt like hell. I had a bruise the size of a tennis ball on my arm and even bigger ones on my ribs and stomach. I couldn't twist around to see my back because it was too painful but I was fairly sure that had a similar bruise.

I found that my Chikorita had been knocked out by the Heracross after a not so successful attempt at fighting it. There was a bruise on my Chikorita's face, about the same size as the one on my arm. I lay there for nearly an hour before I stood up again. I was still sore but the pain had dulled considerably in that hour.

I returned my Chikorita to it's Pokeball and hobbled to the nearest Heracross-free tree. I sat against the trunk, under the shade of the branches and released my Chikorita. I managed to grab the pokeball before it rolled off somewhere. The plant-thing was still unconscious and fell onto it's side as soon as I released it. I felt good that the Chikorita had tried to protect me from the Heracross. It had failed but I suppose it's the thought that counts.

It was late afternoon but it was still warm and the sky was a strange shade of orange. I leaned back against the tree with my hands behind my head and noticed something out the corner of my eye.

There was a Pokemon about ten feet away from me. It had a long, coiled, mainly purple body - although it's underside was yellow - with a yellow band around it's neck, a yellow rattle on it's tail and yellow eyes with slit pupils. It was an Ekans. I found it strange because I knew they weren't usually found on route thirty-seven. Maybe it was an escaped or a released trainer Pokemon.

It's jaw was hanging open, with it's forked tongue flicking in and out of it's mouth every few seconds. We just sat there, staring at each other. I don't know how long that lasted but I know it was a long time. I wasn't particularly scared of it since - unlike the Heracross - I figured I could take it in a fight but I did find it intriguing. It wasn't attacking me or running away from me like every other wild Pokemon I had seen that day.

I had gotten up early that morning and I had not gotten much sleep the night before. It was late afternoon and I was already tired. The Ekans' stare was strangely relaxing and I found my eyes closing even though I didn't want them too.

* * *

When I woke back up it was night and the strange Ekans was nowhere to be seen. I wondered if it had used some move to put me to sleep or if I had fell asleep on my own. Either way I was thankful the thing didn't poison me while I was asleep. My Chikorita had also woken up, which was a plus.

The bruise on it's face was a lot smaller and it seemed to be acting fine. It was lying on it's side, facing away from the trunk of the tree.

"Hey, come here. We're going," I told it. It got up and waddled over, knowing what the words "Hey" and "Here" meant. I took out the phone I had bought earlier and checked the time. It was roughly half past nine. I stood up and winced as my bruises decided to remind me that they were still there. It was kind of cold so I took my jacket out of my bag and put it on. It didn't help very much.

I walked slowly through the grass, looking around for any signs of life. There were birds and insects in the trees but nothing seemed to be on the ground. I did find that a little strange. My Chikorita was trotting along beside me, apparently not sharing my feelings. It was as carefree and laid back as ever. I started to get nervous. I figured that there had to be a reason no Pokemon were on the ground.

I guessed that we were heading into the middle of route thirty-seven, where the stronger Pokemon were. I considered turning back but we were about half way through the route so we were about as close to the start of route thirty-six as we were to Ecruteak so there wasn't really any point in turning back. I found that my nerves were only getting worse.

That nervousness soon turned into dread and it wasn't long before I was looking all around us with each step. There was something that didn't seem at all right. I had the feeling that something was watching me but I just blamed it on me being paranoid.

That's when I felt something hit my foot. I gasped and flinched in surprise. It felt like a rope of some sort. I felt the rope move as my Chikorita walked into it. I tried to pull my foot away but it was stuck to the rope. I ripped my foot away and looked down at it. I saw a thin, fine, silver wire. I stared at in confusion for a fraction of a second before realization struck. I wasn't looking at a rope. I wasn't looking at a wire. I was looking at a web.

I looked down just in time to see a gigantic, horrifying, red spider jump up at me. Although I saw it time, I was incapable of reacting in time. It's fat, round body hit me in the stomach, right where the Heracross had hit me earlier. I screamed and fell onto my back. I waited for the thing to attack me but it didn't. Instead, I felt it's weight suddenly lifted from me.

My first thought was that I had been saved. Maybe by a ranger. Maybe by an experienced trainer with a really strong Pokemon that could protect me and my Chikorita. I hoped that maybe a bigger Pokemon had just eaten it as a snack. I didn't hear any other Pokemon, though. I hoped that it had maybe run away. A dozen other ideas filled my head in the short few seconds it took me to struggle to my hands and knees. It was none of those.

The grass was particularly tall around that area and I kept tripping over the web that I now found myself in. I stumbled through the grass, looking for the Ariados or my Chikorita. Unfortunately, I found my Chikorita first. What was left of the right side of it's face was covered in blood. It's right eye was missing and there was little to no skin left. Bones and the remains of muscles were the only things visible on the right side of it's face.

I screamed a scream of pure horror. I fell back after seeing it, leaning on my elbows and scrambling back to get away from that terrible thing that used to be my Pokemon. The red bug appeared out of nowhere and landed on top of me, pulling it's head back and readying itself to sink it's vicious fangs into me and poison me. My anger at the thing and my instinct to survive drowned out my fear.

I grabbed it's two front legs and threw it off of me. I heard a sharp cracking noise as I did so and felt something sticky and wet spill over my hand. The spider-thing let out an incomprehensible screech. I took no notice. I looked to my side to see it lying on it's back, helpless, all three legs flailing. Wait...three? I felt something in my hand. I looked down and saw what looked like a blue and yellow stick. A blue and yellow stick that was bleeding out one end. It then occurred to me that it was part of the Ariados' missing leg. I must have accidentally snapped it off when I threw it off me. That would explain the crack that I heard.

It was still lying on it's back, squirming and wriggling, belly and face exposed. I was still on the ground so I crawled over to it and raked the jagged end of it's snapped leg across it's disgusting face. It let out another of it's screeches. I hit it with it's own leg again, jagged end piercing it's skin and sending blood flying through the air. I hit it over and over and over again. I hit it so many times that I lost track of how many times I did so. It's face ended up resembling ground meat and it had stopped moving long before I had stopped hitting it.

So that's how I ended up covered in blood with a torn off Ariados leg clutched in my right hand, in front of the corpses of both said Ariados and my Chikorita after my first long, painful day of training.


	3. Stalker Snake

Shedding Skins

Chapter Three

Stalker Snake

* * *

I'm not sure how long I just sat there for after it all. I didn't try to clean all of the blood off. I didn't put down the Ariados leg. I didn't even approach my starter. The thought of seeing that half eaten face scared me more than anything else ever had in my life. It was all a little surreal. More than that, though, it was just horrifying. I'd just seen a giant spider kill my starter Pokemon. That would have scared the shit out of anyone, let alone a thirteen year old boy.

I just sat there, under the night sky. I didn't really know what to do, so I did nothing. Eventually, everything caught up with me and I fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

When I awoke again, it was morning. The Ariados leg was lying next to my right hand and the blood that covered me yesterday had now dried. I pushed myself to my feet, shaking my head frantically from side to side, looking for any possible threats. As I did so, flakes of dried blood dropped off of me. Lovely. Understandably, I was paranoid because of the ordeal the night before. I was tense and cautious, practically tip toeing through the unusually tall grass.

I knew I wouldn't like what I found. I knew it would disgust me. I knew it would terrify me. I knew it would upset me. I had to see it, though. I don't know why but it was just something that I had to do.

The smell gave it away. It was even worse than it had been the night before. It was starting to rot and flies were buzzing about it's face. I clamped a hand over my mouth to try and stop myself from being sick. It didn't work. Instead, I vomited in my hand. I didn't really care. I was already covered in sweat and bug blood anyway. Puke wasn't a big deal.

My Chikorita was dead. My Chikorita that I'd been pissed off at getting. My Chikorita that had always been so carefree, laid back, relaxed and cheerful for all the time I'd known it. My Chikorita that I failed to come up with a name for. My Chikorita that I had let die.

"I'm sorry," I muttered to the rotten corpse in front of me.

* * *

Feeling sufficiently shit about myself, the loss of my starter and my Pokemon journey in general, I just wandered. I wasn't scared of the wild Pokemon here; if I could kill that Ariados then I could kill any wild Pokemon around here.

I walked for a while before I remembered that I had left my bag by the dead Ariados, so that's where I went. It was hard, trying to find it. The grass was tall enough to cover the Ariados and everywhere looked the same. I probably wouldn't have found it if it weren't for the noise. It was a strange noise that I couldn't identify. I followed the sound, wondering what it was.

It turned out to be the sound of eating. A long, purple, serpentine Pokemon was lying on the Ariados, head stuck in the thing's abdomen, gorging itself on the bug's insides. It was that Ekans again. I distantly remembered hearing or reading somewhere that Ekans ate their prey whole but I didn't really pay attention to that. I couldn't really have cared less about the eating habits of an Ekans.

"What you doing here?" I asked it. I was only talking to it for lack of other company and I wasn't actually expecting an answer. I remembered talking to my Chikorita for the same reason the day before and felt a pang in my chest. The snake removed it's head from the bug's stomach and looked at me. I felt like being sick again. It's head was covered in bug blood and had parts of various internal organs on it's face.

"Wow. What manners," I said to it. Oh, how I loved sarcasm. The Ekans lazily flicked it's tongue in and out of it's mouth, probably tasting the air around it or something.

I picked up my bag from beside the rotting bug corpse and walked in the direction that I hoped was south. I waded through the tall grass, occasionally brushing my hand against a nettle or a thorn, tripping over tree roots and sliding in mud. The further I walked, the more frequent those annoyances became. I wished to just get to the end of the damn route.

According to my phone, I walked for an hour and seven minutes. It felt like so much longer. Probably because the conditions had gotten worse. There were basically more nettles, thorns, roots and mud. I sat down at the base of the nearest tree, dumping my bag next to me. I leaned against the tree, exhausted. As I leaned back, though, I saw something that shouldn't have been there. The Ekans was coiled around a branch and was staring at me.

The fact that it was following me didn't alarm me as much as it should have. What really bothered me was that the snake had got there first. I couldn't be bothered wondering how it had managed to beat me there so I didn't. I tried to ignore it but I couldn't even last a minute without looking up at it.

"What the hell are you looking at!" I shouted up to the still staring reptile. It just flicked it's tongue out at me. I growled at it out of frustration. I made the mistake of looking it in the eyes. I felt my eyes closing and tried to resist it to no avail. I was sure now that it had made me fall asleep the first time I met it.

Thankfully, it took me minutes to wake up this time, not hours. I glared at the snake that was now sitting ten feet in front of me. An idea struck me then. I dived at the snake, grabbed it's tail with one hand and grabbed it just underneath it's head with the other. It struggled but there wasn't much it could do when I was holding it like that. I stood up, took my hand away from underneath it's head and swung it into the tree by it's tail. I grabbed a pokeball from my bag and threw it at the Ekans while it was on the ground, dazed and hurt. The ball rocked back and forth a couple of times before making a clicking noise.

I grinned to myself. Take that, snake.

* * *

Things got much better after that. The Ekans didn't seem too bothered about being caught or slammed against a tree. The first time I let it out of it's ball, it just sat there, staring at me. It also happened to be remarkably intelligent. I told it to use bite on a wild Pidgey that attacked us, not expecting for a moment that it would actually do it. Imagine my surprise when it did. It also knew how to use wrap, glare, leer and poison sting. After I found that out, I was positive that it had been a trained Pokemon in the past.

I found myself at the end of route thirty seven the day after I caught the Ekans. Route thirty six was so much better. There wasn't much tall grass compared to the previous route and it was much less muddy. Ariados were thankfully nowhere to be seen, although there was the occasional Spinarak.

I was walking through route thirty six, looking for any possible wild Pokemon. I had just left my blood drenched jacket in route thirty seven and was regretting it now because I was starting to feel the cold. I spotted a particularly large Pidgey and my Ekans was on it before I even had a chance to order him to attack it. It bit down on the Pidgey's wing, drawing blood and then wrapped it's body around the Pidgey, crushing it until it passed out.

"Nice work," I told it. I walked on, my Ekans slithering behind me, making my way to what I hoped was the entrance towards Violet City. I saw a Spearow standing on the grass not far from us and quietly pointed it out to my Ekans. It silently slithered through the grass towards the little bird.

It bit the Spearow on the wing and drew blood, just like it had with the Pidgey. The Spearow, however, pecked my Ekans in the side, also drawing blood. It then jumped back a few feet to get away from my Ekans. They were both still, eyeing each other and sizing the other up.

"Hey!" I heard someone shout. I turned around and saw an angry looking boy about my age jogging up to me.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Keep your Pokemon under control!" He shouted, gesturing wildly with his hands towards the two Pokemon that still hadn't moved. "That's my Spearow!"

"Stop shouting. And fine, I'll keep my Pokemon under control, jerk," I said to him.

"Jerk? You looking for a fight?" He asked, not shouting for once. I looked him up and down. He was quite a bit smaller than me and really scrawny. I could fight. I wasn't spectacular at it but I knew I could handle myself.

"I'm pretty sure I could take you. Don't embarrass yourself," I told him. He gave me a look that quite clearly said he thought I was a total idiot.

"I was talking about our Pokemon," He deadpanned. "Avian, Fury Attack!" He commanded his Pokemon - who was apparently named Avian - before I could even agree to the battle.

The Spearow obeyed straight away. It hopped over to my Ekans and jabbed it's beak into my Ekans' side four times, drawing blood twice.

"Bite, poison sting, then wrap!" I shouted to my Ekans. That was how he took out most of the wild Pidgey we had encountered, so I hoped it would work for Spearow as well. I was nervous. It was my first trainer battle. I had to win. I didn't take my eyes off the brawling Pokemon for even a second until the battle was over.

My Ekans responded to the bird's attack by latching onto it's front with it's jaws. It the jabbed the rattle on the end of it's tail into the Spearow's side. Luck was on my side and the bird was poisoned. I could tell from the pained look on it's face. My Ekans wrapped it's body around the Spearow and started squeezing.

"Fury attack and peck!" The other trainer shouted, getting a little panicked. The Spearow obeyed, pecking my Ekans' side while it was wrapped around it. My Ekans crushed and the trainer's Spearow pecked. It was really just a question of who could last longer. The two of us watched in anticipation, hoping our Pokemon could win.

The Spearow slumped in my Ekans' grip and my Ekans' stopped crushing. It unwrapped itself from the Spearow and slowly slithered over to me, covered in tiny cuts. I was so proud of it. It had been a long time since I had been as proud.

"Good work!" I shouted, crouching down next to it. I tried to pat it's head but it just tried to bite me. I didn't blame it. I would be pissed off as well if I had been pecked a few dozen times by a Spearow. I returned my exhausted Pokemon and stood up. Safe to the say, the other trainer was not happy. he was looking at me with a bitter expression. He hadn't even returned his fainted Spearow.

"Hey, do you know which way it is to Violet City," I asked him. Not only had I won my very first trainer battle, I didn't have to wander around lost anymore.

"That way," he muttered, pointing to his right.

I was far too happy and proud of my Ekans to care that the guy was an ass so I thanked him anyway and started making my way towards Violet City.


	4. Some Real Fights

Shedding Skins

Chapter Four

Some Real Fights

* * *

Author's Note :

Woo! Over one hundred views! Just wanted to say thanks a lot to anyone who's reading this.

* * *

"Fuck!" I shouted, violently kicking a shrub out of anger and frustration. That spiteful bastard had deliberately pointed me in the wrong direction just because he lost the battle. I was now wandering around route thirty five, completely lost. It was worse in a way than even route thirty seven. Route thirty seven had been marshy but route thirty five was more like a forest. I couldn't take two steps without walking into a branch.

"Naja!" I shouted. I had lost track of the snake yet again. It had taken to moving through the trees above me. I had taken my eye off it for too long and now I couldn't find it. "Naja!" I repeated. I took out it's pokeball, pointed it upwards towards the trees and returned Naja.

I continued onward, ducking and weaving through the branches in front of me. The branches weren't the only problem. There were bugs everywhere. Safe to say I wasn't too fond of those after what happened to my Chikorita. Caterpie, Metapod, Weedle, Kakuna and even a few Beedrill and Butterfree. I was covered in Caterpie silk and Weedle stings but the Metapod and Kakuna didn't bother me since they were immobile and couldn't do a whole lot. The few Butterfree and Beedrill I had seen just outright tried to kill me.

As I was mentally complaining about the bugs and branches, a tiny, purple rabbit-like thing tried to tackle my leg. I lifted my leg out the way and avoided the attack with little effort. I took Naja's Pokeball out of my pocket and dropped it on the floor, releasing the snake in a flash of bright light. The ball, unfortunately, rolled away from me and into a bush. "Dammit," I muttered.

"Get it," I said, gesturing lazily at the Nidoran. It had bigger ears, bigger spines and a bigger horn, so it was a male. Naja had taken out a few of them already so this wasn't a challenge. Naja glared at the unfortunate creature, freezing it to the one spot. The snake then quickly jumped at the Nidoran and latched onto the back of it's neck with a bite. Somehow, that managed to knock it out. "Good job."

After crawling around in the bush that I dropped Naja's pokeball in for what felt like forever, I finally found it. I kept Naja out after that and let him bully the weaker Pokemon into submission for the sake of experience while I tried to find some way out of the route. I found myself getting angry at the bitter faced trainer that gave me wrong directions. I swore to myself that if I ever saw him again I would completely trash him in a battle.

Naja was already strong when I got him and he was getting even stronger. I saw him spit a jet of purple liquid towards a Pidgey, drenching it in what I assumed was acid. Thankfully, it seemed to be a weak acid that was only a little painful. I didn't seem to physically burn through the bird's skin or anything.

While trying to find a way out of the route, I came across a waist height, elephant-like thing. The top half of it's body was yellow, while it was brown below the waist. It had tired looking eyes, a short trunk, small, triangular ears and a thickset body with short, stubby arms and legs. It was quite big compared to the other Pokemon we had been battling but it looked to be mostly fat. I figured Naja could beat it.

"Naja, get it," I said quietly to my Ekans. It didn't move. "Naja, get it," I repeated. The snake turned around and stared at me for a few seconds before climbing up a tree and out of my line of sight. "Naja, what the hell?" I shouted up into the trees. The snake knew what I meant. It understood a great deal of English already. Apparently he just didn't want to fight. "Fine then!" I angrily screamed at the trees. I took out the pokeball and returned Naja, just out of spite.

However, my angry outburst at the snake annoyed the Drowzee. It glared at me and I felt myself pushed back by some kind of force into a tree trunk behind me. I saw the Drowzee's eyes glow and figured it was using some kind of psychic attack. I pushed against the force and although I could move, I didn't get very far. I started to panic a little before remembering that I had killed an Ariados. A Drowzee should be easy.

I moved my hand towards my pocket to retrieve Naja's Pokeball but my hand was stopped by psychic force. I looked at the Drowzee. It's eyes were clenched shut and it's teeth were gritted. It was putting a lot of effort into this. A few seconds later and it couldn't maintain the hold it had on me any longer.

I sprinted up to it and kicked it in the face. It's lip burst open and blood spilled out of it as it took a few steps back to brace itself. I punched it in the left eye and it let out a howl of pain before punching me in the ribs. I flinched and paused for only a second. The Drowzee wasn't very strong.

Strength, however, doesn't seem to matter when psychic force was involved, as I found out when the Drowzee's eyes started glowing and I felt myself being thrown backwards. I fell onto my back and felt something roll out my pocket. It was Naja's pokeball. I reached for it but the Drowzee sent it flying with a psychic attack. Luckily for me, the pokeball hit a tree and released the Ekans inside. Naja looked around for a second before setting it's sights on the Drowzee.

It dived at the psychic Pokemon but was thrown aside in mid air by what I assumed was a confusion attack. Naja hit a tree hard and wasn't moving a whole lot. That sent me over the edge. I scrambled to my feet and ran at the Drowzee again. I kicked it hard in it's flabby stomach, making it flinch for a second. I punched it in the trunk and it howled in pain. I punched it in the mouth and it let out another howl. I brought my fist back, preparing to punch it in the face as hard as I could but it pushed me with psychic force and sent me onto my back.

It looked at me, anger in it's bruised and slightly bloody face. It raised it's hands then shrieked and started flailing as my Ekans attached itself to one of it's ears. I saw the rattle on it's tail come up and jab the Drowzee in the face until it succeeded in poisoning it. The Drowzee's shrieks got a little quieter and it's flailing was a little less frantic. My Ekans coiled the rest of it's body around the unfortunate creature's neck and started crushing. It's face went purple and still the squeezing continued. Naja didn't stop choking it until it was unconscious.

* * *

"Hey!" I shouted at the top of my voice. I was trying to catch the attention of a trainer that was far ahead of me for directions. Unfortunately, the trainer started to walk faster. Probably thought I was looking for a battle.

It had been three days since the Drowzee attack. Naja had fallen out with me after the attack but seemed to have forgiven me. My bag was out of food and I had wasted three pokeballs trying to catch a Nidoran the day before. I was desperate to get to Goldenrod.

"Don't run! I don't want to battle any more than you do!" I shouted after the trainer who was rapidly getting further away from me. "Dammit!" I screamed, kicking a shrub out of anger. I wished to much to just get to civilization again.

I heard a buzzing noise and very nearly tore my hair out of my scalp. I had ran into far more than enough bugs in the last however long it had been since I left. I honestly couldn't remember. I turned around to where I heard the buzzing, ready to tear the bug apart if I had to.

What I saw was not what I expected. I was expecting a Beedrill. In fact, I hadn't seen any other buzzing insects apart from those vile things. Instead, I saw a large, red insect perched on the branch of a tree, sunlight shining on it. It's body was long and thin, with most of it's length being made up of it's abdomen. it had six, long, black legs attached to it's thorax and four long, thin, clear wings, each one with a red band near the end. It's wings seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. It's tail had a flat extension on each end and two spikes in the center. It had two short, thick antennae on it's head, just above it large, green compound eyes which had a small pupil in the center of each one. I had found a Yanma.

I'd heard that they were rare and I knew I was lucky to even spot one. Catching one would be amazing. "Naja," I whispered, trying to catch the snake's attention without alerting the Yanma. Naja turned around and looked at me, then the Yanma and didn't do anything. I thought it was going to be a repeat of the Drowzee encounter until Naja started to slowly slither forwards. Naja climbed up a tree and started climbing through them to get to the Yanma.

I watched with my heart in my throat as Naja inched forwards through the trees towards the Yanma, who was still unaware of what was happening. My eyes followed the snake as it flew through the air towards the insect. The insect darted to another tree and Naja missed it's target. The Yanma wasted no time - it tackled Naja out of the tree, moving too quick for my eye to follow.

Naja fell but thankfully landed in a particularly soft patch of soil. I only had time to be grateful for a moment before the Yanma rammed itself ridiculously quickly into my stomach. I was thrown off my feet and landed in a bush, gasping for air.

"Wrap!" I shouted to Naja, hoping my Ekans would obey. Naja certainly tried to obey but it couldn't get anywhere near the Yanma. The insect was stupidly fast, appearing as nothing more than a blur most of the time. It couldn't seem to do a whole lot apart from tackle, however, which didn't have much of an effect on Naja. It's hard to effectively tackle a snake, after all.

"Acid!" I shouted. I figured flying liquid would be hard to avoid. Naja looked at me, trying to figure out what that command meant. I spat on the ground, hoping to demonstrate to him what I meant. Somehow, it worked. Naja shot mouthfuls of acid everywhere, drenching the unfortunate bug in the burning liquid. It screeched and landed on the nearest branch. It shook itself and the acid mostly came off it.

It physically could not glare at but I had the feeling that if it was able to, it would. It spread it's wings and I started to panic. I had heard of how Yanma sometimes drove off predators. It was not pleasant.

It started moving it's wings, slowly at first but then it sped up. The high pitched buzzing rapidly went from annoying to painful, then from painful to excruciating. I clamped my hands over my ears and screamed as blood started trickling out of my ears. It couldn't have lasted longer than ten seconds but it seemed far longer.

I just lay there after the dragonfly flew off, as did Naja. I was starting to really detest Pokemon training in general.


	5. Tyson

Shedding Skins

Chapter Five

Tyson

* * *

After travelling through three different routes, being badly injured by bugs three times already - one of them resulting in my poor Chikorita's death - getting lost because of a pissy trainer and some other things, Goldenrod city was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life.

I thought Ecruteak was big but Goldenrod was just ridiculously huge. I was surrounded by huge buildings, the streets - unlike those of Ecruteak - were completely free of chewing gum and cigarette butts, everybody smiled, there were birds soaring above us and it was just generally a really nice place.

The first place I headed was the Pokemon center. I had forgot how bad I must have looked. There was dried blood all over my face thanks to the Yanma's sonicboom, I was covered in tiny cuts and scrapes, I hadn't washed in a while and my clothes were covered in rips and tears. I didn't get any weird looks, probably because trainers came through Goldenrod all the time, a fair number of them looking like I did.

It wasn't hard to find the center. It was gigantic, much bigger than the one in Ecruteak. I looked at the center with longing and started walking faster towards it. I would have a bed, I could have a shower, I could brush my teeth, put plasters on my cuts, eat decent food and so many other normal people things. I could also get Naja's hearing checked, just to make sure the Yanma hadn't done any real damage.

Of course, things weren't that simple. I was maybe twenty feet from the center when I heard someone shout.

"Argon! No!" I could tell from the sound that it was a guy, probably older than me. I turned around and a jet of blue-green fire shot past my face, scorching me.

"Shit!" I screamed, covering my face with my hands and falling back. The fire hadn't even touched me. I took my hands away from my face and opened my eyes. A fifteen foot long, regal looking blue serpent with blue-green flames dripping from it's mouth was glaring down at me. It was a Dragonair. I then saw a boy who looked to be about seventeen or eighteen running up to the dragon.

I could hardly believe what he did next. He wrapped both of his arms around the thing's neck and pulled down sharply, painfully jerking it's neck. The guy got hit with the dragon's tail in return. He just got right back up again, though, holding his ribs where the dragon's tail hit him. With his other hand, he took out a pokeball and dropped it. It hit the ground, burst open and released the Pokemon inside before bouncing into his hand again.

This was even more terrifying than the Dragonair. It was a cruel looking creature with small, narrowed eyes. It stood about eight feet tall, had rocky skin that was thick and grey and it had a huge mouth with dozens of pointed, needle-like teeth. It's tail was long and muscular with a nasty looking point on the end. It's legs ended in large, curved talons and it's front limbs were somewhere between arms and wings. The Aerodactyl stood up to it's full height and roared.

"It's up to you, Argon. You can choose to stop being violent, or Hunter will make you stop," the boy growled. The Dragonair was nearly twice the length of the Aerodactyl but the panic was clear in it's eyes. It was scared. However, it was also proud and refused to back down. It reared it's head back and looked at me, more flames gathering in it's mouth.

The Aerodactyl turned into a grey blur and shot like a bullet at the Dragonair. It grabbed the Dragonair by the neck with it's talons and jerked it's neck back so that it's dragonbreath shot harmlessly into the sky rather than roasting me alive. The Dragonair's eyes started to glow red and it flailed wildly, trying to throw the Aerodactyl away with an outrage attack. The Aerodactyl managed not only to hold on but it dragged the Dragonair onto it's side and - neck still gripped in it's vicious looking talons - slammed the Dragonair's head off of the ground three times.

I thought it was over and tried to stand but found that my legs were too weak. The Dragonair growled and I fell onto my back, fearing for my life again. The Aerodactyl silenced it with a wing attack to the neck, knocking it out cold.

"Good work, Hunter," the trainer complimented his dinosaur and patted it's head before returning it. He then returned the Dragonair. "Are you hurt?" he asked me, looking for any signs of injury on me.

"I'm f-fine," I stuttered.

"Good," he sighed. "Really sorry, by the way. Proud, arrogant, violent dragons tend to get you into trouble," he laughed a little. I noticed that he was quite a bit younger than what I had at first thought. Maybe fifteen or sixteen. He was small and stocky with bright red, spiky hair and a fair few small scars on his face. He was wearing just a white t-shirt, woodland camouflage pants and a pair of black boots.

"I'm sorry but I need to head now. I'm kinda in a hurry. Get checked out at the center for any injuries, 'cause you looked rough even before my Dragonair nearly killed you. So, I'll, er, see you later?" he said, already walking off.

* * *

I took the red-haired trainer's advice and got myself checked out at the center. I decided to get Naja checked out and wasn't really surprised when the nurse told me that Naja was male. The two of us were more or less fine, although the nurse told me to take it easy since I looked pretty shaken up. I was also covered in small cuts and in dire need of a wash.

I walked into the room, dumped my filthy rucksack on the floor, released Naja - I didn't even bother to pick his pokeball back up - and flopped onto the bed. The room was small but I didn't care. It was only just long enough for the bed to fit in it and about as wide, although it did have a small bathroom attached. There was a bedside table and a small T.V but not much else. Compared to living in the routes, this was luxury.

What I was probably most thankful for, however, were the clothes that were sitting folded on the small table. Just a plain black t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Pokemon centers were so considerate.

I dumped my old clothes on the floor and put on the new, clean ones. I went in for a shower and was in there for nearly an hour. The hot water running over me was something I hadn't experienced for what seemed like weeks. Being clean again also felt amazing. So, having washed and having put on clean clothes, I decided to find somewhere I could get decent food.

I wandered around Goldenrod for a while, Naja draped around my neck like some kind of reptilian scarf, looking for a Pokemon-friendly place to buy some food. It was strange having Naja around my neck. He just sort of climbed up me and decided that my neck was a good place to sit. He was dry and cold and scaly and just generally not very comfortable but he seemed happy and at least he didn't run the risk of being trampled on.

Eventually I came across a fast food place that was Pokemon-friendly. I went in and ordered a pizza for myself and ordered some Pokemon food for Naja. I wolfed the entire pizza down in a couple of minutes. Cheese and tomato and pepperoni tasted better than anything else I had ever eaten in my life after living off of crap for so long. Naja wasn't so enthusiastic. Fussy.

"Come on. Eat your food," I said to him. He turned around and gave me a glare. Apparently he didn't like it.

"When was the last time you fed it?" Someone shouted over to me. I turned around and saw a brunette girl a year or two older than me with a Seviper curled up on the table, eating a bowl of Pokemon food. The Seviper was the same size as Naja, if not smaller. I figured it wasn't fully grown yet.

"Yesterday...Wait, the day before, I think," I called back to her.

"It won't be hungry. Snakes don't need to eat a whole lot," she told me before going back to her food.

"Dammit," I muttered. I had just wasted money on food that he wasn't going to eat. Naja wrapped himself around my neck again and we left the place.

I didn't know what to do. My goal was to get out of those routes more or less since I started training but I hadn't actually thought about what I was going to do there. I could challenge the Gym but I would get trashed. I knew that Naja was strong but not strong enough to face a gym leader. Especially not on his own. And that's what gave me an idea.

* * *

I found something that after the past few days, I thought would have been impossible; I found a pleasant route. I tolerated route thirty six because it wasn't so bad but it wasn't actually nice. Route thirty four on the other hand, was. I could see about a dozen trainers just lazing about with their Pokemon or having friendly battles with each other. It was scorching hot and I could feel myself start to sweat already. The tall grass was also free of thorns, nettles and most other unpleasant things usually found in the tall grass.

"Hey!" I heard from behind me. I turned around and saw someone jogging up to me. It took me a few moments but I recognized him as the red-haired trainer from earlier.

"Uhh..yeah?" I asked, wondering why he was talking to me.

"Is this yours?" He asked, holding out my cheap, crappy phone, which now had a crack down the center of the screen.

"Yeah, it is," I told him, taking it from his hand and shoving it in my pocket. "Thanks."

"It was in the Center's lost and found. Some dude said he found it outside and I figured it might be yours," he explained. He then reached into his pocket, pulled out a handful of cash and held it out in front of him. I didn't do anything for a few moments, then I realized that he wanted me to take the money.

"Am I supposed to take all of that?" I asked.

"Yeah. It should be enough for a decent phone," he told me.

"Why are you giving me money for a phone?" I asked, confused.

"Because I think it was cracked when my Dragonair attacked you."

"It's fine. It probably still works," I waved him off.

"Come on! I can't believe I need to try and convince you to take a handful of money!" He cried in exasperation.

"Okay then..." I reluctantly took the money out of his hand and shoved it in my pocket.

"Finally," he laughed a little. "So, you're here to train?" He asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

"Actually, I was hoping to catch another Pokemon," I told him.

"There isn't really anything worthwhile here unless you're prepared to try for an Abra - which is damn near impossible unless you can trap it - or prepared to tangle with a Heracross," he replied.

"I've been there before. I'm never messing with a Heracross again. Never," I chuckled a little. His eyes shot open as soon as I said that.

"You fought a Heracross? How? A stronger trainer?" It sounded more like a statement than a question.

"A wild one that I pissed off," I corrected him. His eyes got even wider.

"How long have you been training?" He asked.

"Less than a week. Why?" I answered.

"Jeez...A fight with a wild Heracross in your first week? Anything else interesting?"

"A bit," I laughed. "I'm Linus."

"Tyson."


	6. Bully

Shedding Skins

Chapter Six

Bully

* * *

I fell onto my hands and knees and started convulsing, ready to throw up. After I had found enough strength to pick myself up off the ground, I turned around to Tyson.

"I hate teleporting," I muttered weakly, trying not to bring up my last meal.

"You get used it," Tyson chuckled.

_"And it does not take as long as one would think," _I heard a deep voice echo in my head. I looked over at Tyson's Alakazam, who had so generously teleported us.

"Was that you?" I asked him incredulously. He nodded.

"That's Zener," Tyson informed me.

"Oh," I said, giving Zener a small wave. "So, why are we here?" I asked.

"'Cause this is a decent enough place to catch a Pokemon," he answered.

"I hate this place. It's evil," I nearly growled.

"It's just route thirty-five, it's nowhere near as bad as some of the other places out there," he dismissed.

"Oh. Brilliant," I deadpanned.

"Just start looking for a Pokemon," he said, walking further into the route, searching everywhere as he went along.

"What is there here?" I asked, wondering what my options were.

"A whole lot of Nidoran and Drowzee. You already have a poison type so forget about Nidoran. Drowzee's a good choice. Got a friend with a Hypno. Thing's a tough fighter," he rambled.

"I hate Drowzee," I told him bluntly.

"Well, in that case, there are Yanma, but don't count on finding one. They're rare as hell. Growlithe are solid fire types and they're not exactly hard to find. You can find Snubbull, Hoothoot and Pidgey here as well. They're not as good as the other's I've said, though. I suppose you could get a Psyduck if you're willing to wait until night," he told me.

I hadn't really thought about my team. I hadn't thought about how I would build it. I didn't know which Pokemon were the better ones, didn't know where to find them and didn't know how to actually train them. It occurred to me how little I had prepared for this. I had originally wanted a Cyndaquil because Johto is lacking in fire types.

"Growlithe sounds best," I said, more to myself than to him.

"It's a shame you already have a poison type," he sighed. "A Nidoking would be -" he was interrupted by a ringing noise. He quickly dug his phone out of his pocket and took the call. I pretended not to listen, although I actually was.

"Yo, Raynor. 'Sup?" he said. I could hear vague words from the phone.

"Yeah. Route thirty-five. Why?" He asked. His eyes went wide in surprise at the answer.

"Seriously? Thanks, bro," he laughed. I heard more vague words from the other end.

"Yeah. Be there in two," he told the other person before hanging up and stuffing his phone back into his pocket. "Good news, kid, we're teleporting again," he said with an amused smile.

"I hate you," I told him.

"You won't after you find out where we're going," he laughed, walking towards Zener - who had his eyes closed and was floating in the lotus position - and gestured for me to follow. He woke Zener up from his trance. The Alakazam then grabbed my arm in one hand and Tyson's arm in the other. My stomach twisted and everything went white for a brief second as we teleported.

* * *

"First time teleporting?" A dark haired trainer asked Tyson, the two of them looking at me. My entrance was about as graceful as the last time I teleported.

"Nah. Second," Tyson corrected him.

"I hate you," I growled.

"You told me that before we teleported," he reminded me. "This is Raynor," Tyson abruptly changed the subject to the dark haired trainer next to him. He had longish, jet black hair with a side fringe that cut above his eyes. His eyes were pale blue, almost grey, and were behind a pair of rectangular glasses. He was taller than Tyson, less bulky and more athletic. He wore a pair of black jeans, black baseball boots and a deep blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up. I also noticed a black sweatband on his left wrist and a blue on on his right.

"Nice to meet you but you might want to get looking before they disappear," Raynor said.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"There's a swarm of Ralts here and they'll move move on soon, so get looking," Tyson explained.

"We're in route thirty-four again, aren't we?" I guessed.

"Yes. Now come on," Raynor said, already walking away. Tyson followed suit. It struck me as strange that the two of them seemed to be more excited than me.

Five minutes of looking through tall grass and wild Pokemon attacks, I found a Ralts. "Naja," I said to the snake that had been wrapped around my neck for at least the past half hour. Naja looked up and swiveled his head from side to side, apparently trying to figure out what I wanted him to do. "Over there," I said, pointing towards the tiny psychic. He just gave me flat look. "Get it," I tried, hoping he understood that command.

I could have sworn he rolled his eyes at me before dropping to the floor and slithering up to the Ralts. He went right up to it and sniffed it, yet it didn't make and move to try to defend itself. It just fell over and crawled a little before standing up again. He turned around and looked at me, seeming to wonder if I was serious. I tried to think of his weakest attack. He knew poison sting, acid, wrap, bite, leer and glare. Wrap and poison sting were his weakest moves.

"Use wrap," I decided. He lazily slithered up to it and wrapped his body around the little psychic. It struggled but it was no match for a snake over twice it's size. Apparently it didn't know how to use any of it's psychic powers, either. Naja squeezed little by little until it could no longer keep it's head up, then he released it. It struggled a little on the ground but couldn't move a great deal. I took my bag off, reached inside and brought out a pokeball. I threw it and it sucked the defeated Pokemon inside. It clicked almost immediately.

I picked up the ball and put it in my pocket. "Tyson! Raynor!" I shouted.

"Yo!" I heard someone shout. It sounded like Tyson. I jumped and spun around as a bright light flashed behind me. Tyson was suddenly there with Zener standing behind him. Just as I recovered from my near heart attack, there was another flash of light and Raynor appeared. He was accompanied by a yellow, bipedal Pokemon with cat-like ears, narrowed eyes, a big nose and a ruff of white fur around it's neck.

"You two nearly gave me a hear attack," I told them.

"He's not that scary," Raynor said, gesturing to his yellow Pokemon.

"What is it?" I asked him.

_"I am a 'he', not an 'it' and, if you must know, I am a Hypno," _a voice said into my head. I looked at the yellow Pokemon in surprise. _"Yes, it was me who said that," _he confirmed. _"My name is Jung,"_ he finished.

"Young?" I asked.

"It's said like young but it's spelled J-U-N-G," Raynor informed me, probably guessing what Jung had said.

"Anyway, what is it?" Tyson asked. I just pulled the Pokeball out of my pocket and showed it to him. "That's not your Ekans', is it?" he asked, a smile creeping onto his face.

"Nope," I confirmed. Tyson and Raynor congratulated me, talked about names, genders, natures, personalities, moves, abilities and everything else about my newly caught Ralts. I didn't listen to most of it. I wasn't really happy. I felt bad for catching the Ralts. Well, not for catching it, more for picking on such a weak Pokemon. I hadn't felt bad for hurting and then catching Naja because he could fight and defend himself properly. He was fair game as far as I was concerned. The Ralts, on the other hand could barely walk on it's own. It felt wrong.

_"Is something troubling you?"_ Jung's voice spoke inside my head. Tyson and Raynor were a little ahead, still talking about my Ralts.

"You're a psychic. Shouldn't you know already?" I asked.

_"Yes and no. I could easily read your mind if I wanted to, however, I find that intrusive and disrespectful, so I choose not to. However, I am a psychic and I frequently hear thoughts that I don't want to hear," _he told me.

"Did you hear anything you didn't want to?"_  
_

_"You miss nothing." _I could hear the smile in his voice. _"I am aware that your newly caught Ralts is on your mind. Your body language told me that you are troubled."_

"Basically, I feel bad about catching the Ralts because it couldn't fight back," I told him.

_"You just caught a new Pokemon, something that most trainers would be ecstatic about. You, however, aren't happy because it wasn't fair?" _He asked.

"Pretty much," I admitted, realizing just how stupid it sounded.

_"That's not important. Forget about it," _he finished. He then blinked out of existence and reappeared next to Tyson, Raynor and Zener.

"Hey! You coming or what?" Tyson shouted to me, noticing that I was alone.

"Yeah!" I called back to him, taking Jung's advice and forgetting about how I caught the Ralts.


	7. Let's Try Training Again

Shedding Skins

Chapter Seven

Let's Try Training Again

* * *

My Ralts turned out to be a female and I called her Cerletti, after a psychiatrist, the same way Raynor and Tyson had named their psychics. I knew it wasn't exactly original but I didn't care. I liked the name and I thought it suited her. The two older trainers - Tyson especially - made a much bigger deal about my catching Cerletti than was really necessary.

Tyson and Raynor said that they had to go and meet someone and that they would be a few hours. They didn't say who it was. That was fine with me, though, because it would give me a chance to go and do some things.

I went to an electronics store first and got myself a new phone with the rather large wad of bills that Tyson had given me. This one was a modern one with a bunch of additional features, unlike my last, crappy, cheap phone. It only cost half of what Tyson had given me.

I also went to a clothes shop to get some clothes of my own since I was still wearing the ones that the center had provided me with - they were a little too big for me. I bought a pair of boots, a pair of cargo pants and a t-shirt - all the cheapest I could possibly find, of course. After the last time, I would never make the mistake of travelling unprepared ever again. That used up all of the money that Tyson had given me.

I headed out to route thirty-four after that. It took me less than fifteen minutes to get there. There were less trainers than there had been earlier but I noticed there were also more beginners.

Naja wrapped around my neck, I took the two pokeballs out of my pocket and looked at them, wondering which one was Cerletti's and which one was Naja's, as they both looked identical. I dropped both of them and one burst open in a flash of light, releasing my Ralts. I stopped to pick up the empty pokeballs and pocketed them again.

"Uhh...Hey?" I tried. The tiny psychic just stared at me. It was less that a foot tall, with short arms, small hands, what looked like a white dress and a head of green hair. It's most prominent feature would have to have been the flat, red horns on it's head. It had one on the back of it's head and one the front.

I had the feeling that this particular Ralts was a baby. I knew that Ralts in general were small but this was small even for a Ralts. I groaned and watched it try - and fail - to walk away from me. I had been lucky with Naja. I was positive that he had been a trained Pokemon before and seemed to be remarkably intelligent anyway. He already knew some commands when I caught him and learned others easily. I had a feeling that Cerletti would be a lot more work.

* * *

I turned out to be right. I tried getting Cerletti to battle a wild Rattata but she didn't seem to know how to fight and just ended up getting a nasty bite on her arm. I ended up having to send Naja out to get the Rattata. He simply swallowed the poor thing whole. I did find myself immensely proud of Naja, though, after he managed to take out a Drowzee just by using a single bite.

"Hey," someone said from behind me, as I was nearly tearing my hair out over the uselessness of Cerletti.

"What?" I said aggressively. I wasn't in the mood to be civil to anybody. I turned around and saw a brunette girl looking at me.

"Fine. If you're going to be a dick then I'll go," she said, turning around and starting to walk.

"Hey, I'm sorry," I lied. I wasn't too bothered by the fact that I was being a dick. I was too annoyed with the whole Cerletti situation. She didn't stop walking. I thought she looked vaguely familiar. She looked maybe a year older than me, two years maximum. Her hair fell past her shoulders and she definitely had an air of confidence about her. Judging by her clothes, she was a trainer. She was familiar looking but I couldn't place her until she released a snake, similar in size to Naja but black in color and with a bladed tail. It was the girl from the fast food place.

I briefly wondered what she had wanted before I returned my focus to the current problem of Cerletti. She was crawling around a patch of grass a little to my left. She was a baby and she couldn't battle, which left me in a pretty bad position. I had become a little attached to her and didn't want to release her but at the same time, she would basically be dead weight until she got a bit older and learned to fight.

I decided to let her watch Naja battle, hoping that she would maybe learn something from him. Thankfully, he didn't eat any more Rattata and just settled for crushing them. He took down opponent after opponent, tiring out but still winning. I returned him when he started making mistakes out of fatigue. I looked over to Cerletti, hoping with ever inch of my being that she had learned something. I looked over to her to find her sitting on the ground, facing the opposite direction with a leaf sticking out of her mouth, apparently not having paid the slightest bit of attention.

"You're useful, aren't you?" I sighed, disappointed. I returned her to her pokeball and stuffed it in my left pocket - since Naja's was in my right - before I started walking back to Goldenrod. I'd had enough of training. Most wild Pokemon ran away from me, probably because I was considerably bigger than them. Drowzee seemed to be braver so I steered clear of them.

There was a flash of light some distance behind me. "Hey, Tyson," I said as he jogged up to me.

"What you up to?" He said, returning Zener to his pokeball.

"Going back to Goldenrod," I replied.

"How was training?" He asked.

"Frustrating. Naja did well but Cerletti's a nightmare to train," I told him.

"How?"

"She just sits there and let's wild Pokemon attack her," I told him.

"Oh, she just doesn't know any attacks," he said, taking his bag off and rummaging through it for a few moments.

"What you doing?" I asked.

"Hang on," he muttered, still looking for whatever it was he was looking for. "Here!" he shouted, pulling his hands out of the bag, clutching a purple disc in his left hand and a strange yellow, cylindrical machine in his right.

"What is that?" I asked him, gesturing to the items in his hands.

"TM 30. It contains the move shadow ball," he told me, holding up the disc. "And this is my TM case," he said, holding up the machine.

"You're really going to teach that to Cerletti?" I asked him.

"Yeah. Just give me her pokeball," he said. I dug my hand into my left pocket and retrieved Cerletti's pokeball. I threw it to him, he caught it, opened up a small compartment on the TM case and put Cerletti's pokeball in it. He then slid the disc into a slot below the compartment and waited for a few seconds. He then took out Cerletti's pokeball, threw it back to me, ejected the disc and just dropped it on the ground.

"Well, she knows how to use shadow ball now," he grinned at me.

"Thanks," I beamed at him. Things would be so much easier now that Cerletti could battle. I released her immediately. She didn't act any different, just started crawling around as usual. It was a different story when a Pokemon approached, though. A wild Drowzee stalked up to her and looked down at her. I wanted to run up and kick the thing in the face before it attacked Cerletti but I had to let her fight it. I sat in the tall grass, hidden from the Drowzee's view and watched.

It slapped her across the face. Hard. She cried out and fell to the ground. It slapped her again while she was down and I made to get up but Tyson stopped me. The thing pulled it's arm back for another slap. Cerletti had turned around already, though. She extended both of her hands and a black ball of shadows launched from her hands towards the Drowzee, hitting it in the chest and knocking it onto it's back. It got up but she hit it in the stomach with another shadow ball. It fell once more and struggled back up to it's feet. Cerletti took it out with one final shadow ball to the face.

As soon as the Drowzee was unconscious I ran out to see Cerletti. I praised to try and teach her that she had done something good. She seemed ignorant to it all and tried to catch a leaf that was being blown past overhead.

"You don't happen to have a TM that can teach her English, do you?" I joked.

"Nah. You'll just have to put in a lot of time and effort for that one," he laughed.

"Where were you and Raynor earlier, anyway?" I asked, just out of curiosity.

"Eh...That doesn't really matter," he said, looking away. He was a horrible liar but I didn't call him out on it.

"Ah," was all I said.

"Well, Raynor's gone," he told me.

"Why?" I asked. I hadn't really talked to Raynor so I wasn't too bothered.

"He's went to try and get his last badge," he explained. That didn't surprise me. I had guessed that both Tyson and Raynor were skilled trainers. In fact, I had expected them to have all eight badges. "He's needing to battle Jan from Olivine," he continued. I had heard about Jan. She was still a teenager and was the youngest Leader in Johto. Even so, she was still considered one of the best.

"Oh. How many badges have you got?" I asked.

"Seven, same as Raynor," he answered.

"Who have you still got to battle?"

"Reece from Blackthorn. Guy's damn near unstoppable," Tyson sighed. I knew that almost everyone considered Reece to be the strongest Leader in Johto. Apart from that, I didn't know much about him. He was a very private person for a celebrity.

"You'll beat him at some point," I tried to encourage him.

"I have to beat him next time I face him. I've lost to him twice. If I lose again them I'll be disqualified from this year's championship," Tyson told me.

"Why will you be disqualified?"

"You don't know the league rules very well, do you?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Lose to the same Gym Leader three times and you're disqualified from that year's championship. You also lose all your badges, so if you want to compete the following year you need to challenge all the Gyms again," he explained. He looked sick with worry.

"Has Raynor ever lost to Jan?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Once but it was a close match," he said. "He had to fight Reece three times to get his sixth badge. On his third try he only just managed to win," he went on. I didn't like the sound of Reece. I was thinking that if Tyson, with his Alakazam, Dragonair, Aerodactyl and god knew what else was scared of Reece, then what chance would I have against him?


	8. Challenger

Shedding Skins

Chapter Eight

Challenge

* * *

Author's Note : It's been ages since I uploaded a new chapter...

Well, here it is, enjoy and thanks for reading.

* * *

"Bite!" I shouted to Naja, who was struggling with a particularly tough Ditto that had morphed into an exact replica of Naja, rendering his poison attacks more or less useless. Naja obeyed and sunk his fangs into the body of his copy. It did hurt the Ditto but it wasn't enough. They both decided to use wrap and the same time and had started some kind of constricting contest.

"Dammit," I muttered to myself, looking around and seeing nothing but tall grass. I had let Cerletti out to battle as well so I knew she was somewhere around the route. "Where are you?" I said, again, to myself, trying to look over the tall grass to find Cerletti. She was nowhere to be seen.

Thankfully, it turned out that I didn't need Cerletti, as just after that, Naja sunk his fangs into the throat of his copy and it suddenly went limp before reverting back to its original blob-like body.

It had been a few days since Tyson had told me about his fears concerning his last gym badge. After that I threw myself headfirst into my training and had spent nearly all my waking hours in route thirty-four, getting Naja and Cerletti to battle the wild Pokemon. I had also been trying to teach Cerletti some commands. She understood the commands "shadow ball" and "confusion" as well as her name. She had learned one or two new moves but the only one I had managed to teach her the name of was confusion.

Naja was doing as well as ever. Aside from the Ditto and a few other encounters, he was knocking out his opponents in seconds. He had learned the moves stockpile, swallow and knew the commands for them, too. He was also learning more commands by the day, without me even trying to teach him.

That was the first time I had really enjoyed myself since starting my training. I settled into a sort of routine where I would wake up early, usually before eight, buy myself, Naja and Cerletti breakfast - although Naja didn't once eat his - then head out to route thirty-four for training. The weather was scorching and there was just such a happy atmosphere about the place. At least a few other trainers were also there.

"Good work," I said to Naja, who was slithering away to look for something else to attack. He raised his head a little in acknowledgement but kept moving through the tall grass. He had learned what "good work" meant as well.

I walked in the opposite direction to try and find Cerletti. I walked aimlessly for a few minutes before I heard the sound of a scuffle. I followed the noise and found a Drowzee repeatedly slapping Cerletti back and forth across the face with pound attacks. I sighed. Regrettably, Cerletti was not doing as well as Naja. I was about to return her to her pokeball when Naja jumped out of seemingly nowhere and wrapped himself around the Drowzee's neck, choking it. I had noticed that this had become one of his favorite tactics.

The Drowzee collapsed, unconscious, after several moments of strangulation and Naja slithered off again, searching once more for victims. Cerletti wasn't in a fit state to battle so I left her out of her ball and she tottered after me, as I walked towards the shorter grass, where the trainers who weren't battling sat. Some were talking to each other, some were playing with their Pokemon, some were even sleeping on the grass.

I choose a spot of grass to sit on. I lay down and looked up at the clouds, looking for strange formations - I saw one that looked remarkably like a snake. I then closed my eyes for just a few moments, enjoying the warm sunlight...

"Hey," someone said from above me. My eyes opened and the bright light assaulted me. I shielded my eyes from the sun and looked up. I must have fallen asleep because the sun was considerably higher than it had been when I sat down.

"What?" I groaned, standing up and only just managing not to fall over since I was still half asleep.

"How many badges do you have?" Asked a boy about my age. He was short - shorter than me - and stocky, with shoulder length, brown hair. He gave the impression that he wasn't really paying all that attention to you, like he was spacing out a little.

"You woke me up for that?" I asked incredulously.

"Yeah. How many?" He repeated.

"None," I admitted.

"Good, want to battle?" he asked.

"What?" I said, unable to comprehend this as I was still sleepy.

"Well, all the other trainers here have at least a few badges and they'd wipe the floor with me," he said. "I don't have any badges either," he added.

"Fine," I grumbled. I was about to reach for Naja's pokeball - which was empty - when he slithered up to me. I forgot that I had left him out. I had left Cerletti out, too, so he had probably guessed that I only had those two. He was staring at his right hand, which was clutching a pokeball and a great ball in it, considering which one to pick. Finally, he decided on the pokeball and pocketed the great ball and looked at me expectantly.

My first thought was to send Naja out first, but what if his second Pokemon was his strongest and Naja had been weakened by battling his first Pokemon? I was still undecided when he threw the pokeball at the ground with a cry of "Go, Marine!" The pokeball burst open and released the Pokemon inside before bouncing back up into the air. The new trainer only just managed to catch the ball again in the tips of his fingers.

I decided to use Naja anyway, since he was stronger and I assumed that the Pokemon he released was his starter - starter Pokemon don't usually come in great balls. "Go, Naja," I said to the snake at my feet. He obediently slithered forwards and stared at the Buizel that had just burst from the pokeball.

"Aqua jet!" The trainer shouted, without warning. Just as suddenly, the Buizel became surrounded by water and ran at Naja so fast that it was little more than a blur. I had learned from experience, however, that tackling attacks didn't work too well on Naja. He was too long and not wide enough for tackling attacks to have great effect - aqua jet included. The Buizel hit Naja but only really knocked him to the side a little before coming to a stop.

I didn't give my command straight away, instead I waited. When the Buizel turned around to attack Naja again, I shouted "Glare," to Naja. He obeyed and gave the Buizel a glare that even scared me, and I was considerably further away from him.

"Sonicboom!" the Buizel's trainer shouted. The Buizel didn't move. It couldn't move.

"Acid!" I shouted to Naja, feeling I was going to win. Naja inhaled, then spat up a stream of liquid at his opponent. The Buizel managed to move before the acid hit it; he jumped back out of the way and avoided the liquid. I suddenly didn't feel so confident that I was going to win anymore.

I saw the Buizel starting to spin its tails, presumably for it's sonicboom attack but its trainer changed his mind. "Quick attack!" He bellowed. The Buizel crouched a little in preparation for it's attack and a plan sprung to mind.

"Acid!" I barked to Naja, hoping he could execute the command before the Buizel executed its. Luckily, Naja decided to obey. He spat a stream of the acid from his mouth again and at the same time, the Buizel dashed forwards. Both the trainer and the Buizel had missed one crucial detail: Naja's missed acid attack. As the Buizel performed its quick attack, it slid on the acid that Naja's last attack had produced. It was going so fast that it couldn't stop itself, and it collided with the airborne acid from Naja's second attack while sliding forward at great speed, after which, it tripped and fell face first onto the ground. It didn't get back up.

The Buizel's trainer looked disappointed but determined to win the next round with his second Pokemon. He took out the pokeball and returned his Buizel before taking the great ball from his pocket and throwing it at the ground, this time managing to catch the ball perfectly as it bounced. A male Nidoran was released from the ball in a flash of light and made a horrible noise - somewhere between a snarl and a hiss. The thing looked nasty, much more intimidating than those Naja had battled on our way to Goldenrod. It looked like it was ready to kill someone.

Naja hadn't really been injured in the last battle but it had tired him out and he looked like he was about to fall asleep. I wanted to recall him and let out Cerletti to battle it but I had a feeling that despite the type advantage she would have, she would be no match for this beast of a Pokemon. I decided to keep Naja out and that I would return him when he started losing too badly.

"Fury attack!" The trainer told his Pokemon and there was a confident look on his face. He knew he had this round in the bag. Thankfully, the Nidoran only jabbed Naja twice with its horn and although it drew blood, Naja kept going. He bit the monster's shoulder without any command from me and wouldn't let go.

"Wrap!" I shouted, thinking that maybe Naja could beat the Nidoran as well. He coiled his body around the Nidoran's ribs and started to squeeze. Naja, however, had not paid attention to the spikes on the creature's back and as he crushed his opponent, he inadvertently cut himself on the Nidoran's spikes. He loosened and fell from the Nidoran.

"Finish it, fury attack!" the other trainer shouted. He was grinning but not in a mean way, he just seemed to be happy that his Nidoran had beaten Naja. I decided that was it, though, and returned Naja to his pokeball. The trainer looked a little disappointed, like he felt he had been cheated out of his win. The Nidoran stabbed the ground where Naja had been five times with its horn, getting its horn stuck in the ground on the last strike. I saw my chance.

"Shadow ball,"I said to Cerletti. I didn't need to shout as she was standing at my feet. She raised her hands and shot a ball of swirling black and grey and the Nidoran. It hit its side and knocked it back a little, yet its horn was stuck firmly in the ground. I knew it was a cheap tactic but I wanted to win pretty badly. She fired off another one that hit it in the face then a final one which hit its shoulder and also got its horn unstuck from the ground.

"Quick, horn attack!" Its trainer barked, desperate to find way to win but we both knew it was over. Cerletti was quite a distance away and had long range attacks. Unfortunately for him, his Nidoran did not. Cerletti shot another shadow ball at the charging Nidoran and although it slowed it down, it did not stop it.

"Confusion," I said to her, confident that this would take it out. She stuck her hands out in front of her and the Nidoran briefly glowed pink before flying back and hitting the ground, hard. The trainer looked down at his Nidoran and sighed before returning it to its great ball. He seemed a little bitter but came over to me anyway and congratulated me on my win, even covering up his bitterness.

"To be honest, I thought I would win," he told me, laughing a little.

"Why?" I asked.

"I haven't got any badges but I came real close to beating the Gym here," he explained. I glowed a little inside. Well, I glowed a lot inside; if this guy could get 'real close' to getting one badge and I beat him, did it mean that I was good enough to beat the Gym in Goldenrod? "Anyway, that was a great battle!" He told me enthusiastically, pulling out a bunch of notes from his pocket and handing them to me. I had forgotten all about prize money. I also hadn't gotten any prize money from the pissy little trainer that sent me in the wrong direction on route thirty-six.

"Thanks," I said to him, meaning it. It wasn't a lot of money but I felt like I had earned it.


	9. Riot

Shedding Skins

Chapter Nine

Riot

* * *

The trainer that I met and battled that day was called Forrest. We didn't part ways after we battled; we both walked to the Pokemon Center together to get our Pokemon healed. Even after that, we stayed together. We went back to route thirty-four to train for longer and found that we got on quite well. He had been training exactly a week longer than me so we were about the same in terms of experience.

Tyson left two days after I met Forrest but I hardly noticed his absence. Tyson left me a ton of money and the day he left, Raynor had left me a spare pokeball in my room at the Pokemon Center for some reason. After we met, Forrest and I spent every day for the next week training, sometimes in route thirty-four, sometimes in route thirty-five. He told me about what training had been like for him so far.

He was from Azelea town and his rich uncle managed to get him a Pokemon from Sinnoh as his starter - Marine the Buizel. So after that, he set off. Like me, he was ill prepared and hated Ilex Forest about as much as I hated routes thirty-seven and thirty-five. Thirty-six wasn't so bad. He spent his first days of training hungry, cold and miserable, much like myself. When he got to Goldenrod, he headed to route thirty-five to look for a Yanma. He found three but didn't come anywhere near catching them so he gave up and caught a Nidoran - which he named Nail - instead. He challenged the Gym Leader too early and after that he just trained half-heartedly on route thirty-four, discouraged by his crappy time training, until he met me.

I told him of how my first days of training had went. I was aware that it was the first time I had told anyone what happened. Tyson had asked but I managed to avoid answering it. Strangely, I didn't mind talking to Forrest about it. He was convinced I was lying at first but I got him to believe me. After that he sat and listened the short tale, engrossed, like a child listening to a bed time story.

Training with Forrest wasn't like training alone. For one thing, time went faster; we would get more training done and we would have a better doing it. It was also good for Naja and Cerletti to have some contact with other Pokemon - putting aside battles. Marine and Cerletti seemed to like each other and Naja and Nail put up with each other.

"When you going to challenge the Gym again?" I asked Forrest while watching Naja strangling a Drowzee, yet again. Cerletti was holding a Pidgey in mid-air with a confusion attack, Marine was shooting a Hoothoot out of the air with a water gun attack and Nail was repeatedly jabbing an angry looking Growlithe with his horn.

"Whenever you do, I suppose," he replied, watching Nails struggling against the Growlithe that was now biting back viciously.

"I'm thinking of challenging him tomorrow," I told him. "Might be a good idea to catch that," I suggested, nodding at the Growlithe.

"Nah, I want to try and get myself a Torkoal."

"They're native to Hoenn," I told him.

"They imported them to the safari zone next to Cainwood," he said. "So, we're challenging him tomorrow?" He asked, returning to our conversation about our planned Gym challenge.

"I'm going to, yeah," I replied.

"We shouldn't train as hard today, then. Don't want to tire our Pokemon out," he said to me.

* * *

I knew that Forrest and I had spent more than enough time training but on the day of our Gym challenge, it didn't seem like anywhere near enough. I got up got dressed before it really hit me: I was going to battle a Gym Leader. I was in a state by the time I left the room; I sweating and I felt sick. I was nothing, though, compared to Forrest. He was pale and sweating and looked like he was seriously ill. I then remembered that he had already lost once to the Leader and that if he lost this time then he would only have one shot left. He had came close to beating the Gym Leader last time and he had just spent over a week training so it would be easy for him to win. Nevertheless, it was nerve wracking.

As he came out of his room at the Pokemon Center - which happened to be next to mine - I couldn't help thinking that it might be a better idea to postpone this. When I brought it up, though, he refused. He said he just wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible.

We walked through Goldenrod's crowded streets towards the hulking building at the north. As we neared the gym, my nerves steadied a little. I was thinking of using Cerletti first since she could use long range attacks but I also had a hunch that the Leader would save his strongest Pokemon for last so I should probably do the same.

We reached the large double doors of the Gym and I was positive that Forrest was going to pass out. It was strange seeing him this nervous since he had always seemed relaxed. We each took a deep breath, pushed a door each open and entered.

It was not what I expected. There was a full sized arena in the center with smaller arenas surrounding it. Gym trainers were having practice battles on most of the smaller arenas, ranging from Pokemon weaker than mine and Forrest's to ones that looked like they could compete with Tyson's or Raynor's. The trainers who were battling varied just as much as their Pokemon did.

The ground was a dark grey and I imagined the walls would be too, I didn't know for certain because I couldn't see them, though. Every inch of wall was covered by something. Timetables, calendars and notice boards, posters featuring well known trainers, Pokemon, musicians, actors, authors and dozens of other things and even a large clock at the back of the room. There was a high ceiling covered in long, narrow artificial lights that cast a harsh glare over everyone.

The place looked quite cheap and worn but it had the feel that it had been lived in and that it had been battled in. Simply being there made me want to battle. In fact, I actually started to look forward to my Gym challenge. Just as I thought this, a tall, muscular man in his early twenties pushed past us and out of the Gym with a grunt of "Move out the way." His hair wasn't really hair, it was little more than black stubble. He wore a white muscle shirt, a pair of faded jeans and black trainers. I recognized him from all the times I had seen him on T.V, it was Zach, the Gym Leader.

Forrest and I just stared after him for a few seconds before deciding to actually do something. I walked back through the doors after him, Forrest following behind.

"Hey!" I called to him. He didn't answer me. I started to jog to keep up with his pace. "Hey!" I repeated, louder this time. Still, he didn't answer. "We want to challenge -" I started but I was cut off.

"I have more important things to do!" He shouted back at us, without even turning around. I cast a look back at Forrest, who just shrugged. Apparently he didn't know what was going on either. I was going to turn back and wait at the Gym for him to return but Forrest seemed determined to challenge him again. Forrest ran after him and I followed.

We caught up with him just as he rounded a corner. We both opened our mouths to say something but stopped when we saw the scene in front of us. There was a crowd of dozens of people, all crowded around something and all looking angry. I jumped up on a bench to look over the crowd and see what they were gathered around. It turned out to be small knot of maybe half a dozen trainers huddled together and their Pokemon surrounding them. The Pokemon were clearly much stronger than mine but not as strong as Tyson's or Raynor's.

I noticed that more than a few people in the crowd were armed. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any firearms but there were plenty of baseball bats, hammers, metal bars and even a few knives. The Pokemon were forcing the crowd back with streams of fire, psychic blasts, poisons, rocks, sheer strength and various other means.

"What's going on?" Zach bellowed over the noise of the crowd. Everyone seemed to shrink away from him as he approached. People were still talking but it was much quieter now. No one told Zach what was going on. He opened his mouth to say something else but someone in a green hoodie - with the hood up - and a black bandanna around his face dived from the crowd at Zach, a brick clutched in his right hand. He swung it Zach's face but the Gym Leader ducked under the swing and punched him in the stomach, flooring him. Before anyone else could attack him, there were was a flash of light and a Pokemon burst from its pokeball.

The thing wasn't any more than a foot shorter than Zach. It was cyan in color, with four wide legs - each with claws on the end - and a tank like body. It had a wide mouth with two long tusks that crossed over its face, forming a silver "X" shape. It had two red and black eyes peering out from under the topmost parts of the "X" formed by its tusks. Overall it looked utterly terrifying and it reminded me a little of a giant, metal spider. From somewhere in the crowd I heard the word "Metagross" and guessed that was the Pokemon's species.

"Put that thing away!" Someone shouted.

"It could kill someone!" Called another.

"Your weapons are more likely to kill someone!" Zach roared back. "Back off!"

"Is that a threat?" Another voice from the crowd asked.

"It-" Zach started but he didn't get to finish his sentence. The crowd converged upon him like a colony of ants and he disappeared from sight, along with his Metagross. I made out five separate flashes of light that I knew were caused by the opening of pokeballs but the only thing I could see through the crowd was a large tree that rose above everyone.

"What's happening?" Forrest asked. At some point he had stood up on the bench next to me to get a better view. I didn't answer. I was far too focused on the small group of trainers, whose Pokemon were still trying to protect them. Among those Pokemon there was an undersized Seviper that wasn't yet fully grown, occasionally lashing out at people who came too close with its teeth or its bladed tail. The trainer was standing with the rest of the trainers, near the edge of the group with a tiny Magby clinging to her shoulder.

I jumped from the safety of the bench and into the fray. I know it was stupid and I know I shouldn't have done it but I did anyway. It was like when I attacked the Heracross on my first day of training; I knew it would wipe the floor with me but I went for it regardless and by the time I realized what a mistake it was I was already in trouble.

"Linus! What the hell?" Forrest called after me. I heard footsteps behind me and I knew he was running after me.

I was thrown about like a rag doll in the crowd - I was thirteen and most of the other people were adults. I was right in the middle of the crowd and I was helpless. Baseball bats and pipes were swinging in every direction and I was unarmed. I genuinely thought I was going to die. I turned around and something hit me in the jaw. I fell back and my legs were knocked out from under me. I felt something hit the back of my head and then everything faded to black.


	10. Zach's Badge

Shedding Skins

Chapter Ten

Zach's Badge

* * *

When I first woke up, I could think of nothing other than the pain all over my body. I felt like shit. After a little while of mentally complaining about my aching body, I finally took a good look around. I was lying in a white bed with a small, white table to my right and a chair to my left. The wall behind me was white but there were blue curtains around the rest of bed rather than walls. It took me a moment to realize that I was in a hospital ward.

I just sat there, not quite sure what to do for a moment or two until the curtains parted and Forrest walked in, eating a hot dog. His eyes widened when he saw that I was awake.

"You're an idiot," he he told me. I wasn't quite expecting that, that was until I remembered what I had done.

"I am," I agreed. "What happened?" I asked, seeing as how I had been unconscious for however long it had been. I turned around and sat on the edge of the bed. He sighed and moved his fringe out of his eyes. I noticed then that he looked like he hadn't slept in days. He looked nearly as bad as he had on our way to the Gym. His left eye was also black and blue.

"Zach got his arm broken and his Torterra killed the guy that did it," he said, sighing again. I had not expected that. I was about to ask him what the riot was about but he spoke again before I could ask.

"A trainer and two rioters were killed and dozens were injured. I got roughed up a bit but nothing bad. You would have died if Zach's Metagross hadn't lifted you out of the crowd." I wasn't surprised at the last part.

"What caused the riot? No, wait, what trainer was killed?" I asked him.

"The trainer that died was some guy called Greg something," he explained, looking worse with every word he said. "Zach said it was the trainers being picked on but he said the press aren't to know that." I thought it might have been Seviper girl that died.

"So they just decided to attack some trainers?" I exclaimed, incredulous.

"Not exactly. From what we've gathered, one of the trainers had a Rhyhorn walking with him. It accidentally knocked a guy over and a couple of guys used that as an excuse to start on him. More and more people got involved and it escalated," he elaborated, looking ill now. I nodded thought to myself a little.

"Why doesn't Zach want the press to know?"

"No idea," he answered, shrugging his shoulders. I opened my mouth to say something else but I stopped myself when the curtains opened and a nurse walked in.

"Here are your Pokemon," she told me, walking up to the bed and handing three pokeballs to me before exiting the ward. I was going to tell her that there had been a mistake and that I only had two Pokemon but she was gone before I could do so.

"What's that?" Forrest asked, gesturing to the pokeballs in my hands.

"You know, I think it might be a pokeball. I imagine there's someone else's Pokemon inside," I replied.

"Haha,"he said sarcastically. "I was talking about this," he told me, leaning over and pulling something from the back of one of the pokeballs. He gave it to me and I saw that it was a note.

_I couldn't pass up the chance to catch one of these but I've got my hands full with enough untrained Pokemon at the moment. You're a good trainer and it's young so the two of you should make a good team. Good luck with the Gym and all that._

_Raynor._

I groaned. It was the pokeball that Raynor had left me. It didn't occur to me that there would actually be a Pokemon inside so I just stuffed it in my bag. I'd had a Pokemon for nearly a week and not known about it.

"What do you think's inside it," Forrest asked, reading the note over my shoulder. I shrugged.

"Let's find out," I said, before dropping the ball onto the floor. I bounced back up and I tried to catch it but missed. Luckily, it landed on the bed. I watched the light from the pokeball take shape and then fade, leaving the Pokemon standing there, fixing me with a glare that could rival Naja's.

It was a small, green reptile that stood on two legs. It had a single spike that protruded from it's head and a black, scar like marking over each narrow, red eye. It had two holes in its rocky, armor like skin on each side. It had a red rhombus on its belly, a large claw on each foot and a tail that somewhat resembled an open flower.

"A Larvitar?" Forrest said dumbly. "Whoever gave that, you owe them big time. You need to go to Mt. Silver to get one, and a lot of people who go there don't come back."

I didn't reply. I was too busy staring at my new Pokemon. A Larvitar. I could not believe it. I couldn't believe that I had - in my opinion - one of the best Pokemon there is and I also couldn't believe that Raynor had given it to me. He had been there when I was catching Cerletti and I had talked to him once or twice more at most so why had given me such a great Pokemon? Tyson I could understand since I had spent more time with him but Raynor?

* * *

I got out of hospital the next day. I had only minor injuries but I was told that I would have probably been trampled to death had Zach's Metagross not saved me. I couldn't really have cared less. What I was interested in was my Larvitar.

Forrest was even more disbelieving than I was with regards to my new Pokemon. He kept going on about how great it was, when it would evolve, what moves to teach it, it's abilities and so on. I was surprised that he didn't seem the least bit jealous.

A nurse at the Center told me that it was a male. It didn't seem to like me very much, if at all, but I figured he would in time. He didn't know any commands - although I doubted he would listen to me even if he understood what was being asked of him - and was too stubborn to try and learn any commands anyway. He was determined not to have anything to do with me.

Getting him experience wasn't a problem, though, as he would happily go and fight with any available Pokemon. It was a little frustrating that he wouldn't listen to commands but it didn't bother me that much. He usually chose to do what I would've told him to do anyway. The really frustrating thing was that I couldn't think of a decent name for him.

Forrest and I had agreed to challenge Zach in two days. We both wanted to recover from the riot and I wanted to spend some time with my Larvitar. Zach - despite having a broken arm - was still accepting challenges. Zach didn't seem like such a big deal anymore. Forrest felt the same way. Maybe it was that it just seemed like a minor event after the riot but it wasn't so daunting now.

I was positive that I could beat Zach if I challenged him. I decided to send out Cerletti first since I didn't want my strongest Pokemon - Naja - to be revealed at the start of the battle. If both Naja and Cerletti got beat then I would send out my Larvitar, which would hopefully win through brute strength.

I found the time to mark my pokeballs during those two days - so I didn't get mixed up with them. I just wrote their names on the white part of the pokeball with black permanent marker. I left the Larvitar's blank since he didn't have a name yet.

As far as training went for those two days, we didn't get much done. The Larvitar was happily terrorizing the local Pokemon for the sake of experience but Naja and Cerletti were allowed to recover after their rather long spell of training.

* * *

Once again, we stood outside the heavy double doors of Goldenrod City's Gym, looking up at the huge, rectangular building.

"Who's challenging him first?" Forrest asked me, still not sounding the least bit nervous.

"Flip for it?" I suggested. He shrugged then nodded. I took out a coin and got ready to flip it.

"I call heads," he said, just before I flipped it. I caught in my right hand and slapped it against the back of my left. It was a few moments before I took my hand away.

"Tails," I said, more to myself than to Forrest.

"Good luck, you'll do great," he encouraged me. I pushed open one of the doors and Forrest followed behind me. Zach was standing off to the side, talking to one of the older Gym trainers. He looked exactly the same as he had on the day of the riot, except his left arm was in a cast. I walked up to him and opened my mouth to request a battle but he spoke first.

"You want a battle?"

"How did you know?" I asked.

"You challenged me two days ago, before you ran into that crowd like a bloody idiot," he reminded me before walking to the biggest arena in the middle of the room and gesturing for me to follow.

"I need to see your trainer's license," he told me, holding out a hand. I gave it to him. He turned it over to look at the eight empty boxes on the back before nodding to himself and giving it back. "No badges..." he muttered under his breath, seemingly thinking about something. "How many Pokemon will you be using?"

"Three," I replied.

"Right," he said. "Jake! Bring me over box one, will you?" He roared to a small, weedy looking Gym trainer. He ran over with a cardboard box - which had a giant "1" written on the front - in his arms. Zach picked out a premier ball, an ultra ball and a great ball. "Thanks," he said to the weedy trainer as he scurried away with the box.

"You can only use each Pokemon once. If it's knocked out or too injured to fight you have to return it. You also have to return a Pokemon if it goes outside the arena, got that?" I nodded.

"See that box painted on the ground?" He asked me, gesturing to one end of the arena with his good arm. It was maybe five feet in width and marked out on the ground with white paint, just outside the arena. I nodded again. "Go stand there," he instructed me. I did as I was told and walked to the end he had pointed out while he walked in the opposite direction and stood in an identical box.

Zach dropped the premier ball without a word and released a Croagunk. Double type advantage. What luck. I grinned to myself and threw Cerletti's pokeball at the ground, catching it when it bounced back up. Zach closed his eyes and sighed.

"Astonish!" Zach barked.

"Shadow ball!" I shouted. Cerletti raised her hands and shadows started building around them but there was a piercing scream from the Croagunk that made her flinch and lose concentration so that the shadows fell away and disappeared.

"Faint attack!" Zach commanded. The Croagunk moved much faster than I would have thought possible.

"Confusion!" I shouted, as it ran straight at Cerletti. She raised her hands and closed her eyes but the attack didn't hit. Instead, the Croagunk disappeared and reappeared behind Cerletti. She didn't notice as her eyes were closed but before I could shout out a warning, the Croagunk had kicked her in the back, sending her to the floor.

"Brick break!" He called to his Croagunk, confident that he had won.

"Confusion!" I practically screamed. I thought Cerletti was finished but she rolled over, thrust her hands forward and as she did so, the Croagunk glowed pink and shot ten feet into the air. It landed on its feet but stumbled when it landed. I was about to tell her to use confusion again but she didn't need to be told. It was lifted off its feet and thrown again, although this time it was thrown forwards rather than upwards and out of the arena.

"Dammit," Zach muttered, returning the Croagunk. He dropped the great ball and out came a small, black and grey dog like Pokemon. I recognized it as a Poochyena. "Howl," Zach told it.

"Shadow ball," I said to Cerletti. She sent a shadow ball towards the Poochyena but it jumped to the side and the attack missed.

"Sand attack then bite," Zach barked. Cerletti didn't have time to do anything before sand was kicked into her face and the Poochyena bit her side. I returned her. I knew she would be little to no use after that. I released Naja instead, knowing that he could take out the Poochyena.

There was something wrong when I released Naja, though. He was paler than usual. Much paler. He seemed misshapen and his skin looked loose. He turned around to me and there was a split down the middle of his face. I groaned in exasperation as I realized what was happening. He was shedding his skin. I figured that he wouldn't be able to battle as well but I had to try since I knew my Larvitar couldn't take on two of his Pokemon in a row.

"Acid!"

"Bite!" The Poochyena dodged the stream of acid and clamped its jaws around Naja. Naja wriggled out of the dog's mouth and it was left with a mouthful of dead skin.

"Choke it!" I shouted. I hadn't tried to teach Naja that command yet but he picked up words quicker than any Pokemon I had ever known, so I tried anyway, hoping he had picked it up on his own. Thankfully, I was right and he wrapped himself around the Poochyena's neck and squeezed. Zach's eyes widened at my command and widened even further when Naja obeyed. He knew that it was a lost cause so he just returned his Poochyena, took out the ultra ball and dropped it, releasing the Pokemon inside.

Naja had fallen in a heap when the Poochyena had disappeared back inside it's Pokeball and was still struggling to untangle himself when Zach's third Pokemon was released. It was an orange insect with a huge head and strong looking jaws. It was a Trapinch.

Zach commanded his Pokemon to attack Naja with a mud slap - which half buried him in mud - and then a sand tomb attack - which trapped him even further. He then told his Trapinch to use bite and I only just managed to return Naja to his pokeball in time to avoid the huge jaws of the insect clamping down on him.

I was confident that my Larvitar could beat the Trapinch. I took a deep breath before throwing his pokeball at the the ground and releasing him. He wasted no time. He summoned a sandstorm as soon as he came out of his pokeball. He didn't realize that it would also help his opponent. I could barely see a thing. I heard my Larvitar let out a shrill screech - I recognized that it wasn't a screech of pain. I heard a crunching noise that I guessed was my Larvitar being bitten. I heard continuous striking sounds that I knew were made by my Larvitar using chip away. I heard another two crunching noises that I guessed were more bites - although I couldn't tell who was biting who - before silence fell.

When the sandstorm subsided, my Larvitar was standing over the still body of the Trapinch. I noticed that he had several painful looking chips in his rocky skin. He stalked back over to me and fixed me with another of his glares.

I had won. I had just beaten Zach. I was about to get my first Gym Badge. I was filled with joy and I couldn't help myself from picking my Larvitar up and hugging him. He was a lot heavier than his size suggested - I suppose that was a side effect of being a rock type. My Larvitar, however, wasn't so joyful and only struggled when I hugged him. I put him down and returned him to his pokeball.

"Trainer's license?" Zach said, holding his hand out again. I dug it out of my pocket again and handed it to him. He took out a pen and scribbled something on the back, awkwardly managing to do it despite his broken arm. When he gave it back to me I looked at what he had written. He had scribbled his signature in the first of the eight boxes on the back of the card.

"Here you go," he said, giving me a red-brown disc that I recognized as a TM - although what move it contained was a mystery to me. "Take this," he continued, handing me a small stack of notes. "And this," he finished, holding out a hand with something in it. I took it and inspected it. It was a dark turquoise, metal badge in the shape of a octagon, although it was wider than it was tall. There was a silver "X" that spanned the entire width of the badge, dividing it into four segments. The letter Z was written in silver in the bottom segment.

I was fit to burst with excitement. I had just won my first Gym Badge.


	11. Taking Leave

Shedding Skins

Chapter Eleven

Taking Leave

* * *

I unlocked the door and walked into my room at the Pokemon Center, dropped my bag and my Pokeballs and more or less fell onto the bed. My Pokemon were released after three bright flashes of light.

Forrest's Gym battle had been significantly quicker than mine and went much more smoothly. Zach sent out a Rhyhorn first and Forrest sent out Nail. The Nidoran kept dodging the Rhyhorn's charges and took it out with a few well placed double kicks. Zach sent out a Turtwig next and Forrest returned Nail, opting to send out Marine instead.

The Turtwig tried an energy ball but Marine dodged it easily then used a combination of swifts and sonicbooms to beat the Turtwig and then win the battle. I was surprised that it went so smoothly.

Forrest and I had got some celebratory fast food from a take out after the battle then we just kind of chilled for the rest of the day. We knew we would be leaving Goldenrod soon, so we went shopping for supplies, we visited the radio tower - which was boring to say the least - and we lost some money at the game corner before returning to the Center.

I dug my new badge out of my pocket and just stared at it. I was finding it a little hard to believe that I had one badge already. I pinned it to my t-shirt before deciding that would not be a safe enough place to keep it. I ended up deciding to put it in a pocket inside my bag, along with my new TM - I still had no idea what move it taught.

So, Zach's Badge and the TM safely in my bag, I went and locked the door and climbed into bed. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

It was one of those sleeps that seemed so long and so deep that when I woke back up, consciousness was an unfamiliar thing.

Naja had draped himself over my chest and Cerletti was curled into a ball at the bottom of the bed. My Larvitar was lying on his back on the floor, facing away from me. I didn't get why he disliked me so much.

I lifted Naja off of my chest and noticed while doing so that he was getting longer, heavier and darker. I paid no attention to it and just figured that he was growing.

I went in for a shower and stayed under the spray of hot, cleansing water for much longer than I really needed to. I didn't bother drying my hair, deciding to just leave it to dry instead, and got dressed. I had been thinking of leaving of leaving Goldenrod that day so I put on a pair of grey cargo pants, a pair of boots and a black t-shirt. I had a waterproof jacket in my bag. I quickly grabbed my keys and my bag before returning my Pokemon, leaving the room and locking the door behind me.

I checked my phone - which now had a single crack that ran the length of the screen, thanks to the riot - on my way down the stairs and found that it was only eight o'clock - much earlier than I had thought. Despite the early hour, there was decent number of people in the lobby, most of them were eating breakfast at the glass tables or talking to someone over the phone.

I was about to go out to get some breakfast but I heard Forrest shouting for me to wait up from behind me. I turned around to see Forrest practically throwing himself down the stairs.

"'Sup?" He said in greeting when he reached me. He was dressed in a similar way to me so I figured he was planning to leave Goldenrod.

"Still trying to think of a name for the Larvitar," I replied.

"How about Rex?" I fixed him with a flat stare. "Okay, then...Wrecks!"

"You just said that," I reminded him.

"No, this one's spelled W - R - E - C - K - S," he corrected me.

"Still no."

"Wreck?" I gave him a look that meant I said no_. _I then decided that I might as well say what was on my mind.

"I think I might leave for Violet City today," I replied. His face fell.

"You're going to Violet City next?"

"Yeah. I want to go somewhere new but I don't fancy trekking through Ilex Forest to get to Azelea," I explained.

"Well, I'm going to Ecruteak so I suppose this is where we part ways, then?" He already knew the answer to his question.

"I guess..." I confirmed it. I had enjoyed Forrest's company. Travelling alone wasn't particularly appealing but I didn't really want to go back to Ecruteak either.

"When are you leaving?" He tried to sound casual but I could tell he was disappointed that I was going to Violet City, just like I was. I couldn't really think of any valid reason to postpone leaving.

"I guess I'll leave just now. Not really any reason to stay." He looked even more crestfallen, although he covered it up well.

"I have to meet somebody today so I'll be leaving later today, probably," he told me, trying again to make it sound casual.

"Well...See you later then," I finished lamely.

"Yeah. We'll probably run into each other again," he agreed, looking a little brighter.

* * *

I felt miserable. I had known that I couldn't travel with Forrest for my whole journey but that was at the back of my mind and I didn't focus on it. I would be alone again, and travelling and training alone were not fun.

I gave my room keys back to one of the nurses and stopped at a diner for breakfast - which consisted of bacon, eggs and sausages - before I reluctantly made my way back to route thirty-five. I had trained there over the past week but I hadn't went very far into the route since I got to Goldenrod and I wasn't looking forward to going back there.

Frankly, it was just as much of a shit hole as I remembered it. Tripping over tree roots, being stung by insects, brushing against nettles, being cut by thorns, being attacked by wild Pokemon and all the other generally unpleasant things that were there last time. Except this time, there was also rain.

It was the same day I left and I was sitting under a tree, sheltered from the rain and waiting for it to let up before going further. I was lying in my sleeping bag to keep warm. I had taken my jacket off and given it to Cerletti since it was big enough for her to use as a makeshift blanket. Naja didn't seem to need any form of heat and was quite content to sit outside of the shelter of the tree, being soaked by the pouring rain.

"Wreck, get over here," I said to my Larvitar, who was sitting as far from us as he could without actually sitting in the rain. I had named him Wreck mostly for lack anything better to call him. I reasoned that it would suit him once he evolved into a Tyranitar. However, not even the knowledge that I would have a Tyranitar in the future could lift my spirits.

Wreck understood what "Here" meant. He was a quick learner. Not as quick as Naja - who was unnaturally so - but definitely a quicker learner than Cerletti. He turned around, gave me one of his reptilian scowls and turned his back to us once more.

"Over here or I'll return you," I growled to him. I saw him stiffen a little. He also knew what "Return" meant. He stood up and stalked slowly over to us, giving me a look that quite clearly said he would be happy to kill me in my sleep. He sat down and continued to look at me. The look was actually quite scary and I kind of wished I had left him facing away from us.

Naja came out of the rain soon after and sat, coiled up between me and Cerletti. We sat there, fairly happy for a while, just looking out at the rain from our refuge under the leaves of the tree. At some point I dozed off, and when I woke back up, it was an hour and a half later. Still, the rain showed no sign of relenting.

Reluctantly, I packed up my sleeping bag, returned Cerletti and Wreck - I left Naja out since the rain didn't seem to bother him very much, if at all - put my jacket back on, pulled the hood up, hoisted my bag over my shoulder and started walking.

Route thirty-five was infinitely worse when it was wet. It was all the things I mentioned earlier, except I was soaked, the mud made it easier to trip over things and I ended up much dirtier. I was also getting constantly tormented by Yanma. The rain seemed to bring out a whole lot of them but I knew they were damn near impossible to catch so I didn't even try.

That was until it became too much and I snapped. That many Yanma around one area brought out the trainer in me. They were rare, they were fast, they were cool and they were just overall cool Pokemon. I wanted one. I tried to put the memories of my last attempt at catching a Yanma out of my head.

"Glare then bind one. Any one. Just make sure it can't escape," I told Naja, gesturing to the Yanma around us. I don't know exactly how many words of my instructions he understood but he understood enough. He fixed one with a cold glare that stopped it dead in it's tracks. It just hovered there, staring at the snake.

Maintaining eye contact at all times, Naja inched closer and closer to the insect. The others had all fled and just this one was left, mesmerized by Naja's glare and unable to escape. When he was close enough, Naja shot into the air and wrapped himself around the bug, his weight dragging it to the ground. I waited until he had crushed it to the point where it looked ready to pass out before I acted.

I pulled an ultra ball that I had picked up off the ground out of Pocket and hurled it at the Yanma. It struck the bug's head and bounced off it, swallowing the Pokemon whole and closing again. I waited until I was sure it would not burst out the ultra ball before hesitantly inching towards the ball and tentatively picking it up.

Too much had gone right recently. I had met Tyson and Raynor, caught a Ralts, met Forrest, narrowly escaped death, been given a Larvitar and a lot of money, earned a Gym Badge, along with a TM and more money and now I had caught a Yanma. I could not believe it. I had been feeling that way a lot recently.

I had a Yanma. I was well on the way to becoming a great trainer.

* * *

Despite how happy I was with catching my Yanma, I decided not to let it out. If it chose to fly away, it could probably get out of range of the Pokeball in seconds. I did not want to lose the Yanma.

Something happened the next day that was just as good as - if not better than - catching the Yanma. The rain had given us a brief respite and all of my Pokemon - barring the Yanma - were out of their pokeballs and walking beside me.

I heard a strange noise. A buzzing. I saw a flash of color; I was sure I had seen black and yellow. I instinctively jumped in front of Wreck and something flew straight at me. Had I not been there, it would have attacked Wreck instead.

The "it" was a Beedrill. I'm not really sure what happened. I reached out and grabbed for something, anything, then I remember the Beedrill being held up against the tree. After I was thinking straight again, it was on the ground at my feet, beaten to a bloody pulp.

I understand that this doesn't seem like a particularly good thing. In fact, it's generally accepted that being attacked by a Beedrill is a very bad thing. This time, however, was different because I had protected one of my Pokemon. I had protected Wreck.

Things changed immediately. He wouldn't obey commands but he stopped treating me with such utter contempt and actually began to respect me. I think he started to respect me because I had taken the Beedrill on with my bare hands rather than using a weapon or one of my other Pokemon.

Wreck started battling more. Whenever a stray Pokemon came too close, he was the first one to go for it. He had learned the move rock slide, which made him devastating in battle. Whenever he started a fight, the opponent was soon buried beneath a pile of rocks.

Travelling was actually fun. I found that Naja had taken to wrapping himself around my neck like some kind of living scarf again. I noticed that while he had gotten a little longer since I had caught him, he had gotten considerably heavier. His skin was also gradually getting darker and darker and his eyes were getting paler. I started to worry that he was ill but there was nothing I could do seeing as I was out in the wilderness.

We also trained while we traveled. Wreck was intelligent enough to understand certain commands but it didn't really matter since he seldom listened to me. Cerletti had learned the commands for teleport and lucky chant, as well as a few other commands, like "run" and "dodge" during the training. I lost count of how many other words Naja learned.

We settled down for the night when it started to get dark. We were right on the edge of route thirty-five and since route thirty-six was quick to get through, I figured we would be in Violet City the next day.

I climbed into my sleeping bag and gave Cerletti my jacket again. I offered Wreck and Naja were fine without anything. I lay there for maybe an hour, just thinking about things. I thought about my Pokemon, my badge, my new friends, what Violet City would be like and dozens of other things before sleep finally claimed me.


	12. Thievery

Shedding Skins

Chapter Twelve

Thievery

* * *

When sleep came, it didn't come for long. I was woken up what felt like minutes later by a series of dull thuds. I was still half asleep but I managed - with great effort - to roll onto my left side to look at where the noise had come from.

Wreck was standing a few meters away, his knuckles covered in dirt. I noticed a few tiny craters in the dirt in front of him, each one about the size of his fist. Naja was standing feet from him, fixing him with a look of pure hatred.

"What...?" I muttered to myself. Still being half asleep, my mind was working slowly and I didn't really think to do anything.

Naja launched himself at Wreck and latched onto his shoulder with his teeth. Wreck let out a grunt as the rest of Naja's body collided with him and sent both of them crashing against a tree.

"Stop!" I called to them. I knew that Naja knew what "stop" meant but either he didn't hear me or he didn't listen.

Wreck let out a shout and a pile of rocks fell from seemingly nowhere and buried them both beneath it. I started to panic. I knew that a rock slide would affect Naja much more than it would Wreck. I wasn't sure Naja would come out of there alive. I started struggling with my sleeping bag, trying to wriggle out of it but I just ended up getting tangled up in it even worse.

I heard falling rocks and looked over to see the two of them burst out of the pile of rocks, both still very much alive and just as angry as before. I saw Naja wrap himself around Wreck, leaving only his head and feet visible. His body tightened around Wreck and my Larvitar suddenly looked very panicked. I realized he couldn't breathe.

"Naja! Stop now!" I screamed, just as panicked as my choking Larvitar. I knew he could hear me. He knew what I was saying but he ignored me. I finally managed to struggle out of my sleeping bag and dived for my backpack. I rummaged through the pockets, frantically searching for their pokeballs Until I finally found Naja's.

I heard a sharp cracking noise, like splintering wood and turned around, holding the pokeball in front of me, ready to return Naja. I was about to press the button on the pokeball to return him but he started to glow pink, unwrapped himself from Wreck, flew into another tree and slumped to the ground before I could.

I looked over to Cerletti. Her eyes were glowing pink and she was holding her hands out towards where Naja was now lying unconscious.

"Thanks." I knew that she didn't know what the word meant but I said it anyway. I returned the unconscious Naja and ran over to Wreck. He was lying face down in the pile of rocks, not moving. I turned him over, dreading what I might see. His eyes slowly opened and I let out a relieved sigh. Just as I did so, I noticed something long that ran down the side of his neck. I took a closer look and saw that it was a thick crack in his rock like skin.

He struggled to his feet but swayed a little. I was worried about the crack on his neck and thought that it was maybe a serious injury. That was until he turned around and shattered one of the rocks around him with a punch - I assumed he did it out of anger.

I shoved Naja's pokeball into my pocket, retrieved Wreck's pokeball from my bag and returned the protesting Larvitar. I figured he should rest. I exhaled deeply and buried my face in my hands. What the hell were they two playing at? They could have killed each other!

"I can't believe them..." I muttered to Cerletti, talking to her for lack of human company.

* * *

The next day, travelling went back to being miserable. Naja and Wreck wouldn't so much as look at each other, leaving Cerletti and the Yanma the only sane member of my team. The Yanma didn't really count since I still wasn't letting it out of it's pokeball. To make things worse, the rain had come back even worse than before and showed no signs of relenting.

The rain was probably the worst part. Wreck, Cerletti and I were falling over every few minutes because of how bad the rain was. Naja, on the other hand, had no trouble slithering through the mud and was smug about it.

I knew I would have to buy more clothes, yet again, when I reached Violet City. Violet City didn't seem so close anymore; a muddy route thirty-six took much longer to get through than a dry route thirty-six did.

Things got worse, though. Halfway through the day, we came upon a cluster of trees with a narrow path that cut through it. The trees provided dome shelter so I decided to pass through it. The somewhat dry ground was a welcome change to the sea of mud we had been travelling through for the past however long.

We walked for a while, enjoying the lack of rain until I spotted an ugly, warped tree that was blocking the way. I didn't worry about it; we could just squeeze past it. When we started to get closer, I noticed some strange things about it, though. For example, it's roots looked uncannily like feet and I had never before seen a tree with that shape of branches.

"Sudo," It said, when we reached it. My jaw nearly hit the floor. Did that tree just talk? I was really starting to doubt my sanity when one of its weird, twisted branches swung forwards and hit me in the chest, sending me flying onto my back.

I stood up and really looked at the tree - which was now a few meters away from me. The foot shaped roots were in fact actual feet. What appeared to be branches were actually arms, with three thick, gnarled, branch like fingers on the end of each one. It had two antennae on its head that I had at first thought were just branches. The most disturbing thing of all, though, was the fact that there was a face on its trunk. It looked like it had been carved out of the surface on its trunk, which was in splotches of dull yellow.

A picture sprang to my mind when I noticed these things. It was a black and white picture of one of these tree creatures that had been in the paper a while ago. It was actually a species of Pokemon called Sudowoodo and it had been in the paper for an unprovoked attack on a trainer. It had put the trainer in hospital.

"Get back," I said slowly and calmly to my Pokemon who were still standing near it, looking as confused as I had felt a minute ago. They obeyed and all slowly backed up towards me.

The article in the newspaper came back to me, and I knew that this thing was not to be taken lightly. I knew that Sudowoodo were slow Pokemon but also very strong and very hard to hurt since their bodies are actually comprised of rock. I knew that were versatile Pokemon as well, being able to learn a wide variety of rock, fighting and normal moves, as well as a couple of dark type moves.

"Fucking hell..." I groaned, burying my face in my hands. I couldn't bear to backtrack and go around the cluster of trees so I decided to try and take on the Sudowoodo. To hell with fairness, I thought, deciding that my Pokemon would stand a much better chance of winning if they all attacked it at the same time.

"Okay...Naja, choke it, Wreck chip away and Cerletti, shadow ball, right?" I said under my breath. "Now." Naja was the first to move. He launched himself at the living tree's neck but it batted him aside with one its twisted arms. Wreck moved next. He made an awkward but quick run at the Sudowoodo, just after Naja moved. The Sudowoodo pulled an arm back to swat him away like he had done to Naja but a ball of swirling darkness hit its face and it paused for a moment, giving Wreck enough time to attack. He started a barrage of punches, repeatedly striking its root like legs. He got in four of five punches before the Sudowoodo's right foot swung forward and hit Wreck in the chest with a low kick, sending him crashing into a nearby tree.

"Wreck!" I shouted, fearing the worst. My fears were relieved when I noticed that his eyes were moving, although his body was still. The Sudowoodo turned its attention to me, after hearing my shout. Cerletti launched another shadow ball at it, hitting its face and making it pause for a moment. I looked around for something to use as a weapon but the ground was bare.

The walking tree stopped advancing as Naja - who had recovered from the Sudowoodo's previous attack - wrapped himself around its neck and latched onto one of the antennae with his jaws. He then jabbed his rattle into the Sudowoodo's face a few times, poisoning it with the poison sting attacks. I grinned to myself, confident that the Sudowoodo was finished.

"Shadow ball," I said to Cerletti, who obliged and launched yet another shadow ball at the moving tree's face. This time it had to take a step back to regain its balance and my feelings of confidence grew. I opened my mouth to tell Cerletti to use another shadow ball, but before I could, the Sudowoodo launched one of its own at Cerletti. She slumped to the ground as soon as it hit her and knew she wouldn't get up for a while. Dammit. Mimic.

My feelings of confidence were squashed. I could see that Naja was tiring, and by the looks of it, he would collapse before the Sudowoodo. I started trying to find a way out of this mess that I had made for myself. I could try to fight off the Sudowoodo myself but I knew that wouldn't end well.

I looked around again for a weapon on the ground but I couldn't find anything. I took my bag off, crouched down and started digging through the contents, looking for something that could be used as an improvised weapon while its attention was focused on Naja. I found a torch at the very bottom of bag, buried underneath everything else and decided on that. It was long, thick, solid and probably the best weapon I was likely to find.

I stood up just as Naja's exhaustion overwhelmed him and he fell from the Sudowoodo's neck. The Sudowoodo wasn't in great shape; its right leg had been injured by Wreck's chip away attack, Naja had bitten off its left antenna, choked it, poisoned it and it had also been worn down by Cerletti's shadow ball attacks. It turned around and gave me a nasty glare before limping towards me. I took a deep breath and prepared myself.

I swung the torch and there was a dull thud as it collided with the rocky skin of the Sudowoodo. The tree didn't so much as flinch. Instead, it grabbed my shoulders with its gnarled hands and pushed me up against the nearest tree. It aimed a low kick at my shin but it missed by millimeters and struck the tree instead. I guessed - from the sound of the strike - that if it had hit, it would have broke something.

I couldn't see any way to hurt it. It was made of rock and I had nothing but a torch to defend myself with. I thought I was doomed until I took notice of its left antenna - which Naja had bitten off. I pulled its leg back for another low kick but I was quicker. I swung the torch at the Sudowoodo's remaining antenna it snapped with a sharp crack. The Sudowoodo screeched and reeled away from me.

It turned around a let out a screech before pulling one arm back, preparing to attack. I noticed that leaves and real branches had actually started growing out of that arm and an idea sprung to mind. It made a small jump forwards and threw its arm at me. just as it did so, I dived to the side, only just managing to evade its attack.

The wood hammer hit the tree I had been standing against with the sound of splintering wood, breaking the branches that had grown out of the Sudowoodo's arm and trunk of the tree itself. The Sudowoodo didn't notice and just turned around to glare at me once more. The tree fell on the Sudowoodo and crushed it beneath its weight.

I didn't feel any sympathy for it. I just felt tired and worn out by the whole experience and wanted to go to sleep.

* * *

I collapsed onto dry grass, under the shelter of a tree. I felt alone. More alone that I had felt in a long time, maybe even ever. It was the first time since I had started training that I had really been without my team. Sure, there had been times when they had been in their pokeballs but I could have released them if I wanted to. Now, however, they were all unconscious in their pokeballs.

I tried to ignore my feelings of loneliness. I took off my bag, took out my sleeping bag, climbed in and went to sleep, trying not to think of my temporary lack of Pokemon.

Just like the night before, sleep didn't stay for very long. This time, though, I wasn't woken up by the sound of Naja and Wreck trying to kill each other, I was woken up by the sound of a twig snapping. I turned around, already climbing out of my sleeping bag and managing not to get tangled in it like I did the night before.

Someone was there. A figure in a pair of hiking boots, baggy, faded jeans and a shapeless, black hoodie. The hood was up, casting a shadow over the figure's face. They were crouching over my bag, one hand in it, feeling around for something. I didn't waste any time and neither did the stranger.

I swiftly pulled myself out of my sleeping bag and chased after the figure, who was holding something that they had taken out of my bag. As I ran past my bag, I scooped up my pokeballs and continued chasing. I counted the pokeballs as I ran. Only three. The ultra ball was still there. Naja's name was written on the white part of one, Cerletti's was written on the other. The thief had taken Wreck.

I was running as fast as I possibly could, slipping and sliding in the mud. I was finding it hard to keep my footing but the thief was having a much harder time. They could hardly take two steps without sliding. It wasn't long before I caught up.

I dived at the thief and tackled them around the knees, bringing both of us the ground. The first thing I noticed was that the thief was shorter and slimmer than I had at first though. I ignored it, though, and buried my fist in the thief's stomach. The thief then let out a cry of pain. A very high pitched cry of pain. A very feminine cry of pain.

I hesitated for a second, giving the thief a chance to retaliate. She punched me straight in the jaw. I ignored it. She had stolen one of my Pokemon; I was not going to forget that. I had the size advantage and the weight advantage. I rolled over on top of her and started throwing punches at her face and head. She managed to block a great deal of them with her hands and arms but I was throwing too many punches and she couldn't block them all.

I relented when I was sure she was in too much pain to do anything and looked at all her pockets, searching for the familiar shape of a pokeball. I couldn't see any.

"Where is it?" I growled in her face, grabbing her by the collar of her hoodie. The hood had come down and I noticed that her nose was burst, as was her lip. Her right eye was black and blue and she was bleeding from a cut on her left cheekbone. She had messy, blonde hair and would have probably been pretty had I not just repeatedly punched her in the face. She just laughed.

This confused me for a second. The confusion was then replaced by pain as she landed a booted kick into my stomach. I was lucky she wasn't aiming somewhere else. She managed to push me off her and got to her feet. A pokeball fell out of her sleeve and landed in her waiting hand. I struggled to my feet. An Abra burst from the pokeball. I dived at her but I was too late. The Abra teleported, taking with it the thief and Wreck, who was still unconscious in his pokeball.


	13. Violet

Shedding Skins

Chapter Thirteen

Violet

* * *

"I'm very sorry but we don't have any rooms left," the nurse told, me sounding sorry in the slightest.

"Well, that's fucking useful, isn't it?" I shouted. Needless to say, I wasn't happy.

"We can have you share a room with another trainer if you would like," she said, completely unfazed by my outburst. I knew I wouldn't find a better offer so I reluctantly agreed. She handed me my key and I started up the stairs towards my room, which was on the second highest floor of the Center. I just hoped that I wouldn't be sharing a room with somebody weird.

I finally reached my room, unlocked it it and entered. It was more or less the same as the room I had slept in at the Goldenrod Pokemon Center but it was bigger and had two beds in it. I noticed that the bed on the left had been slept in.

I noticed that were clean clothes lying on one of the beds, just like there had been at the Goldenrod Center. I gladly changed into them. I took a deep breath and took the ultra ball out of my pocket. I made sure the window was closed before I threw the ball at the ground. It burst open and released the Yanma inside. The ultra ball bounced back up to my hand but before I could catch it, the Yanma flew at my face and all I could see were a pair of huge, green eyes. I shrieked and fell over, swatting at it with my hands as I did so.

I stood up and looked at the wall next to my bed. The Yanma was clinging to it, looking around at the room and occasionally twitching its wings. As much as I thought Yanma was a cool Pokemon, it was a bug and I still wasn't a big fan of those. It shot like a bullet at the opposite wall and clung onto that for a while, before its interest turned back to me.

It was so fast that I didn't even see it move. It was on the wall, then it was on my arm. The only reason I knew it had moved was because I heard the sound of its wings buzzing. I shuddered as it took a few steps up my arm. It was big - nearly four feet long - but it could fit all of its legs onto my forearm and simply hung on. It was much lighter than its size would suggest.

I wanted to return it but the ultra ball was still lying on the floor where I dropped it. It shot towards the wall next to my bed again and I immediately went for the ultra ball on the floor. I was about to return it but there were now two Yanma clinging to the wall. Double team. Perfect. I picked one of Yanma at random and tried to return it. Luckily for me, I had picked the real Yanma. It vanished into the ultra ball and the copy faded to nothing.

I took a quick shower and stuffed the Yanma's ultra ball in my pocket - Naja and Cerletti were getting treated downstairs - along with Zach's badge and some money. I wrote a quick note to my room mate and left it on their bed.

_You've got a room mate now - not enough rooms at the center. Hope you don't mind._

_Sincerely, your room mate._

With that note on their bed, I left the room and locked the door behind me. I picked up Naja and Cerletti - who were both fine - at the lobby and walked outside.

Violet City was much different from Goldenrod. There were no skyscrapers and the buildings in general seemed much older. The streets weren't full of people rushing to get places, instead people seemed relaxed and friendly; a few people even stopped to give me smiles for no reason at all. The rain had stopped but it was still cold. I wished I had brought a jacket.

I just wandered around idly for a while, taking in the sights of Violet City. It wasn't as large as Ecruteak or Goldenrod and didn't have many attractions. There was the Gym, the trainer's school, the Sprout Tower and not much else. I decided to go to the Gym, not to challenge the Leader, just to get an idea of what it was like.

It looked almost exactly the same as the Goldenrod Gym - a giant, rectangular, red brick building with a red neon sign above the doors that read "GYM". The only difference between the Goldenrod and Violet Gyms was that the Violet Gym was a little bigger. I saw a notice on one of the double doors. "Open for training but Gym Leader absent," it read.

I pushed through the doors and walked into the Gym. I had been surprised at what the Goldenrod Gym looked like on the inside but Violet Gym was much stranger. Nearly all of the room was taken up by a giant swimming pool, which I nearly fell into when I entered. The pool was filled with Pokemon, most of them of the water type. I did, however, also spot a Furret, a Weavile and a Nidoking, of all things.

Half of the trainers in the Gym were also in the pool and half of the ones who weren't were wearing swimsuits. I walked around the edge of the pool, taking in all the details of the strange Gym. I didn't know exactly how deep the water was but I couldn't see the bottom so I guessed it was pretty deep.

"Here for a badge?" came a voice from behind me. I turned around to face the Gym trainer that had spoken to me. He looked like he was maybe seventeen or eighteen. He was wearing nothing but a pair of board shorts. He was tall and lean, with longish rust colored hair. He gave off an air of calm confidence. He was like the stereotypical surfer.

"No. Saw the sign on the door," I replied.

"Oh, good. Sean Heenan," he said, offering his hand.

"Linus Ferrie," I introduced myself, shaking his hand.

"Why you here, then, Linus?" He asked conversationally.

"Just wanted to get an idea of what the Gym was like. I'll be challenging the Leader as soon as I can," I told him.

"Ah. Well, Kate's at a Gym Leader conference, so I'm in charge until she gets back," he said proudly. I vaguely wondered if the conference was about the riot in Goldenrod.

"Why's that?" I was referring to his being in charge of the Gym.

"I'm Kate's senior Gym trainer. I'm in charge whenever she's not here. In fact, if she's absent for more than ten days then I can battle challengers on her behalf." He was positively glowing with pride now. I suppose I would be too if I was a senior Gym trainer.

"You going to stay and train, then?" He asked. I considered but I had no water Pokemon.

"I don't have any water Pokemon," I told him. I was a little disappointed. The Gym seemed like a great place and I found myself wanting to train.

"A Pokemon doesn't need to be water type to swim," he chuckled. "What Pokemon you got?"

"An Ekans, a Ralts and a...Yanma." I was about to say Larvitar. He seemed to pick up on my hesitation but didn't say anything.

"Snakes are usually great swimmers," he told me. "The Ralts line can be taught to swim but they can't do it naturally," he said, getting lost in thought for a second before continuing. "And Yanma can skate across the surface of water like Surskit," he finished. So two of my Pokemon could swim and I didn't even know it.

I ended up staying to train for a while at the Gym. Sean warned me of some things, like running on the tiles, returning my Pokemon immediately if they're knocked out while in the water, staying away from some of the more ill tempered Pokemon, not using electric Pokemon or moves, etc.

Although Naja could swim, he wasn't such a great fighter in the water. If he used wrap then he would and take his opponent with him. However, he couldn't breathe underwater and his opponents could. I did find out a fun little fact, though; if he used stockpile in the water, he would bob along like a balloon.

The Yanma could skate on the water's surface and he could do it quickly as well, but he couldn't go underwater or he would drown. It didn't take much to sink him either; a small wave, being hit by an opponent and a dozen other little things would cause him to sink.

"Uh hey," said a voice from behind me. I turned around to see a dark haired trainer about my age. He was wearing jeans and a jacket rather than a swimsuit and was clearly a beginner, much like myself.

"Yeah?" I prompted.

"Just wondering how many badges you have," he said.

"One. You?"

"Two," he replied, a hint of pride in his voice. "Want to battle?" I wasn't sure. I did want to battle but this trainer had two badges and I only had one. Also, I only really had Naja and the Yanma - which I hadn't tried to train yet.

"Alright," I replied, with false confidence. I was positive that it would be a difficult battle. "Two on two?"

"Fine with me," he replied. He didn't seem confident at all. I knew that if I was in his position I definitely would be. He dropped a pokeball and released an Eevee. I was impressed. I knew they were very rare and sought after Pokemon.

"Naja!" I called to my Ekans, who was still in the water. He turned his head, saw the Eevee and seemed to understand. He swam over to the Edge of the pool and waited for a command. The Eevee did likewise, keeping itself afloat by doing the doggy paddle.

"Bite!" The other trainer shouted. I knew what was going to happen before the Eevee so much as moved. It swam surprisingly quickly and clamped its jaws down on Naja. Naja bit its leg and the Eevee sank underwater, dragging Naja with it.

"Stockpile!" I called, hoping he could hear me while underwater. The other trainer gave me a puzzled look.

An inflated Naja floated to the surface before deflating again and looking for where the Eevee would surface.

"Yawn!" The other trainer shouted. The Eevee burst out of the water and gave a long, deep yawn. Naja was asleep in seconds. I returned him, feeling crestfallen. Sure, Naja had been beaten before, but he had always been weakened by a previous Pokemon or something, never before had he lost one on one. I put the thought out of my mind and thought about the battle instead. That's when there was a problem. The Yanma was still skating on the water and he didn't have a name to respond to. I couldn't call him over.

"Hey -" I started but I didn't need to say anything else. The Yanma buzzed into the air and zoomed at the Eevee, knocking it under the surface of the water for a moment. It then flew into the Eevee again and again, so fast that the Eevee couldn't do anything more than sit and take the attacks. The trainer reluctantly returned his Eevee, looked at the remaining four pokeballs attached to his belt before finally deciding on one.

A tiny, round, green and red bird was released in a flash of light that I recognized as a Natu. My Yanma dwarfed it. It hopped oddly about a little before flying into the air. My Yanma went to quick attack it again but the Natu disappeared before my Yanma could hit it. It reappeared behind my Yanma and pecked it on the back, without any direction from its trainer.

I didn't bother trying to give my Yanma any instructions. It wouldn't know what they meant and I would just look like a total idiot. The Natu kept teleporting and pecking my Yanma, and my Yanma kept trying to use quick attack. It tried to use sonicboom as well but the Natu would just interrupt the attack with a peck.

I had more or less resigned myself to the fact that I was going to lose when my Yanma started flapping its wings rapidly, whipping up a weak wind. I wondered what was happening for a second, then a dozen white crescent shapes flew from my Yanma's wings and cut into the unsuspecting bird. The Natu fell and landed with a splash in the pool below. He hastily returned it before it drowned.

"That was a good battle," he said, handing me a small wad of money. "I can't believe you have a Yanma that knows silver wind."

I was disappointed. Even though I had one, Naja had lost to that guy's Eevee, first round. I know I shouldn't have been disappointed. I could hardly expect any Pokemon to win all their battles but I could still hardly believe that Naja had lost.


	14. Marnie

Shedding Skins

Chapter Fourteen

Marnie

* * *

I stayed at the Gym for a few more hours after that. I didn't battle again, I just let Naja and the Yanma swim and skate around the pool, respectively. I talked to a lot of the other trainers, gathering some useful tips about training, travelling, etc.

A bug enthusiast who was training at the Gym explained to me that Yanma don't naturally learn silver wind. He told me that my Yanma's father had likely not been a Yanma himself, rather another bug Pokemon and that my Yanma had probably inherited the move from him.

The bug enthusiast told me a few other things about my Yanma. For example, he told me that it was a male - although how he knew, I have no idea. He also told me that if his wings were ever damaged, they would heal, regardless of the severity of the damage. He told me that they would even grow back if torn off.

I was talking to a trainer and I brought up the fact that I could not think of a good name for my Yanma. Soon, half the trainers in the Gym were shouting out names. I settled on the name Ares. It was apparently some god or something, but I decided on it just because I liked the sound of it.

Unfortunately, Sean had to close the Gym early that night because someone's Octillery sprayed a whole lot of ink in the pool. We all left the Gym, apart from Sean, who was working with the Octillery's trainer to clean it up.

I walked briskly through the City, back to the Pokemon Center, the cold night air biting into my skin. I was glad of the heat when I entered the Pokemon Center and vowed to never again leave without a jacket.

I stuffed the prize money from my battle in my bag, along with everything else I had in my pockets, including Zach's badge. As I was putting the badge in one of the pockets of my bag, I cut my hand on the pin.

"Fuck," I hissed under my breath. It was quite a long, deep cut for something made by a pin. I went to wash the cut under the tap in the bathroom. I opened the bathroom door and entered.

I had completely forgotten about having a room mate. Said room mate was standing under the shower when I entered. I thought I could maybe back out unnoticed but I had no such luck. There was a shrill screech as she tried frantically to cover herself with her hands, then a scream of _"Get out!" _- followed by a plastic bottle flying at my face. Luckily, it missed and hit the wall.

"Sorry," I apologized, while making my hasty exit. My room mate emerged from the bathroom seconds later, black hair soaking wet, towel wrapped around her that covered from her chest to her knees.

"Who the fuck are you?" She demanded.

"Your new room mate," I replied. I knew how that would go down, even before she started speaking.

"You might have told me," she glared at me.

"Hey, I left a note," I defended myself, gesturing towards her bed, where the note still lay, untouched. I wished I had taken notice of it earlier. She didn't reply. Instead, she just vanished back into the bathroom.

* * *

My room mate's name was Marnie. I found that she was witty and clever, although she could also be sarcastic and cynical at times. I really liked her, and despite at first getting off to a bad and somewhat awkward start, the two of us ended up getting along well.

"Have you got any badges?" She asked me. It had been two days since we had met. We were in our room at the Pokemon Center, I was sitting on my bed, sending Forrest a text message and Marnie was lying on her bed while scrolling through the pages of her pokedex.

"Yeah, I've got one. You?" Despite both being trainers, we hadn't really talked about Pokemon or training in the two days we'd known each other. We had both let our Pokemon out in the room so I knew what Pokemon she had and vice versa. She had a Vulpix, a Mareep and a Weedle.

"I Haven't got any. I just started training," she replied, eyes scanning the screen of her pokedex.

"How did you get that?" I asked, gesturing to the pokedex. "Aren't they really expensive?"

"Rich parents. The money comes from family inheritance," she replied casually, not taking her eyes off the electronic encyclopedia. I thought back to my own parents at that comment. They didn't have much but they tried to make the most of what they had.

My phone bleeped and I opened a reply text from Forrest.

_Ecruteak Gym is the best thing ever. It's so good for training, and a trainer there just gave me a Riolu, because he thought I would be a good trainer. Anyway, what you been up to since you left Goldenrod? _

My eyes widened involuntarily. A Riolu? I sent him a reply telling him about catching Ares, Wreck being stolen, visiting Violet Gym and Marnie. I felt a lump rise in my throat but I managed to force it back down.

"Have you went to the Gym?" Marnie asked, somewhat suddenly.

"I went a couple of days ago, yeah," I replied. "I thought the league stopped doing specialized Gyms, though," I said, mostly to myself.

"They did," she told me.

"Why is the Gym basically a giant pool then?"

"The Leader likes water. She just uses a lot of non-water types that can swim, though. Still technically allowed," she informed me. That surprised me; I had just assumed it was a water type Gym.

"D'you know if there's any other Gyms like that?" I was curious now. I wanted to know if I could maybe use the terrain of a Gym to my advantage in the future.

"Reece from Blackthorn has a gym that's basically made for rock and ground types and I think the new Leader of Cainwood Gym is planning to do something like that as well, but I don't know exactly what it is he's planning." She seemed very knowledgeable about this kind of thing.

"Ah..." My first thought was that I had to get a rock or ground type for when I battled Reece. I knew that Naja could move particularly well through mud and Ares could fly, so I thought that maybe I would have an easier time with Reece than most.

"What Badge did you get?" She asked. She still hadn't taken her eyes off the screen since we started the conversation.

"Zach's badge, from Goldenrod Gym," I replied.

"So you're from Ecruteak?"

"How do you know I'm not from Goldenrod or Azelea?"

"Nobody wants to challenge their own town or city's Leader first, so you're not from Goldenrod," she replied. "And if you were from Azelea you would have probably went to Ecruteak next. It's a more convenient order travel-wise," she finished.

"Well, yeah. I'm from Ecruteak. Where are you from, then? Cherrygrove?"

"Your problem solving skills are incredible," she remarked dryly.

"So, using my incredible problem solving skills...You're starter was your Vulpix?"

"Yes, it was. My parents originally wanted to get me a dragon type, just because they had the money to do it," She told me.

"Why didn't they get you a dragon?"

"I didn't want one." I'm surprised my jaw didn't hit the floor. Who wouldn't want a dragon? I was about to ask her why she didn't want one but she seemed to sense this and answered the question before I had a chance to ask it. "I want to become a good trainer because of my own skill and determination and everything, not because my parents can afford to buy me the best Pokemon or the best equipment," she said, a hint of resentment in her voice. I got the feeling she didn't like her parents very much.

"The only reason I have this pokedex is because my dad sneaked it into my bag when I wasn't looking," she said, anger in her voice this time. I couldn't believe what she was saying. If my parents were rich, I would hardly be complaining about it.

"Anyway," she said, clearly trying to steer the conversation away from her family's wealth. "I suppose your Ekans was you starter?" She was certain that she was correct.

"No, it was a Chikorita. It got killed by a wild Ariados on my first day of training," I sighed, remembering my poor Chikorita and feeling a pang in my chest. Marnie didn't say anything, although she did manage to drag her eyes away from her pokedex. "Don't suppose you've ever lost a Pokemon?" I asked out of curiosity, thinking of both my Chikorita and of Wreck.

"No," she said quietly, looking away. I wasn't surprised. I heard another bleep and opened another text from Forrest.

_I'm sorry to hear about Wreck, but he's still alive so maybe you'll find him one day. Catching Ares is great news, though. I tried three times to catch a Yanma and it escaped every time, how did you manage to get one? The Violet Gym sounds amazing, something like that would be great for Marine. Also, tell Marnie I said hey._

"Forrest says hey," I told her, changing the subject.

"Who?" She asked, perplexed.

"Forrest. Haven't I told you about him?" I thought I had mentioned him. She thought for a moment before shaking her head.

"Well, he's a trainer I met in Goldenrod. We trained together for a while and we challenged the Gym at the same time. In fact, I'd say he's one of my closest friends," I told her. It was true. I hadn't known Forrest for long but it felt like I'd known him for years. He had also ran into the crowd after me during the Riot, which was really something.

"What's he like?" She asked.

"Just really chilled out, mostly. He gets lost in thought without realizing it. He's a nice guy and a good trainer." I found that an adequate, albeit short description of Forrest.

"Well, tell him I said hi," Marnie said. An idea came to mind. I typed a short text message.

_Where are you heading after Ecruteak? And Marnie says hi._

"Where are you going after beating the Gym here?" I asked her.

"Definitely Azelea. Violet, Azelea, Goldenrod, Ecruteak, Olivine, Cainwood, Mahogany then Blackthorn. That's the quickest way to get around the region," she replied. I could tell she was dead set on this course of action. My hopes fell. My idea had been for Marnie, Forrest and I to travel together, but he was in Ecruteak and Azelea was on the other side of the region. My phone bleeped yet again and I received another text from Forrest.

_Mahogany. I got HM surf from some weird old guy at the dance theater, so I'll use that to get to Mahogany. Want to meet back up at Olivine city? I could get badges at Ecruteak and Mahogany, you could get them at Violet and Ecruteak then we could meet up at Olivine and get badges from Jan. You in?_

My idea of a travelling party of sorts was out the window, but travelling with Forrest again would be great.

_Yeah. Sounds good._


	15. Growth

Shedding Skins

Chapter Fifteen

Growth

* * *

When I woke up the next morning, everything was relatively normal. That was until a monster emerged from the bathroom. It was purple, its body was just a shapeless mass of muscle, and its head was greatly over sized, with red eyes and yellow pupils and a wide, black grin.

Then I realized that the body was actually serpentine, it was just coiled up, making it seem shapeless at first glance. The head was actually the hood and the the face was actually just a pattern on the hood. The real head and face were above that. I was looking at an Arbok.

"Naja?" I asked uncertainly. I knew that the only explanation was that this Arbok was just an evolved Naja, but he looked so different that I was finding the concept hard to grasp. He just rolled his eyes at me - the pupils of which were no longer slits.

I took a moment to really look at him. He was much longer and bulkier than he had been as an Ekans, and had thin, black stripes at regular intervals around his body. He also had the aforementioned hood, which had a face like pattern on it. He was as tall as I was, despite most of his body being coiled up on the ground. He gave a great hiss, showing off his huge fangs.

It occurred to me that my next Gym challenge would be considerably easier; I already knew that Naja was a good swimmer, but now he was much bigger, had bigger teeth and looked like he was made of muscles.

I went in for a quick shower and got dressed - a pair of black cargo pants and a white t-shirt. Ares flew at my face and I swatted frantically at him. I still wasn't used to having a bug.

"You've got a monster stalking you," Marnie remarked dryly, putting her glasses on. I knew she was referring to Naja.

"Yeah. He evolved," I replied, tying the laces of my boots.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"Route..." I took a moment to work it out in my head. "Thirty-one."

"Why?"

"To train."

"Wouldn't it be better to train in route thirty-six, since the Pokemon are stronger?"

"Probably, but I want to train somewhere different." I couldn't bear to go back to route thirty-six that soon.

"Okay. Bye then," she said, getting out of bed and stretching.

I returned Naja, Cerletti and Ares before grabbing a few things and leaving. The Pokemon Center was less only a few minutes away from route thirty-one. I walked down a narrow path for a few minutes before it ended and route thirty-one came into sight.

There was a lot of grass and a lot of ledges, although there was a dirt path that bypassed the all but one ledge. There was a small pond half way through the route and there was a large cave at the other side of it. I noticed a few trainers on the route - although there weren't as many as there had been on route thirty-four.

I released Naja, Cerletti and Ares next to the tall grass. It occurred to me that this was the first time Ares had been outside since I had caught him. I wasn't worried about him trying to escape anymore. Naja didn't need told; he slithered away into the tall grass as soon as I had released him. Cerletti followed him.

"Ares," I called to my Yanma. He zoomed up to me and perched himself on my shoulder. I couldn't help shuddering. I endured his presence on my shoulder, though, and walked into the tall grass after Naja and Cerletti, looking for any wild Pokemon.

It wasn't long before we found a white and brown Pokemon with a long, slender body and long, sharp claws. Its most prominent feature, though, was its piercing blue eyes. It was standing at the water's edge, ready to strike at any Pokemon swimming close to the surface, and as such, hadn't noticed us yet.

"Quick attack," I muttered to Ares, so as not to alert the Linoone to our presence. I had managed to teach Ares his name and the commands for quick attack and silver wind in the past few days. He obeyed and shot straight at the Linoone, hitting it in the ribs and sending it splashing into the pond. I had not meant for it to get knocked into the water.

It climbed out of the and threw itself at Ares - who was hovering close to the ground - but he dodged the tackle. "Quick attack!" I called to him, hoping that he could knock the Linoone into the water again before it could attack. Instead, he started rapidly beating his wings. I knew what was coming and quickly pressed my palms to my ears. I could hear the muffled buzzing of the sonicboom attack.

The Linoone stopped in the middle of its tackle attack and fell to the ground, trying to clamp its paws over its ears. Unfortunately for the Linoone, it wasn't able to achieve this. Ares stopped his sonicboom attack but the Linoone just lay there, making a noise that sounded a little like a groan. He had ignored my command but he had beat the Linoone anyway. Oh well.

"Ares!" I called, then pointed to a Poliwag that was waddling along the water's edge. Ares seemed to understand, as he used a silver wind attack to knock the tadpole Pokemon into the pond.

"Good work," I told Ares, who was now flying at a Hoothoot. I figured I could leave him and he wouldn't fly away. I wandered through the grass for a little while, avoiding the wild Pokemon and looking for Naja or Cerletti.

I found Naja first, who was fighting three Linoone at the same time, beating them without much much effort. I watched him fight and was surprised to say the least when his fangs burst into flames and he sunk his teeth into the nearest Linoone. I knew at once that it was a fire fang attack. Frost started coming from his mouth next, and he took out another Linoone with an ice fang. Electricity started coursing through his teeth after that and the last Linoone passed out after the thunder fang attack.

"Fire fang, ice fang, thunder fang," I said to Naja. He seemed to think for a moment then gave a nod. He knew I was referring to the commands for those attacks.

I wandered around the route a little more until I came to Cerletti. Multicolored leaves were materializing in front of her hands and flying at a Buizel that was not too far from her. They arced towards the Buizel in mid air, like the leaves knew what they were trying to hit. It was a magical leaf attack but no matter how hard I tried to teach her, she wouldn't remember the command.

I noticed that Cerletti was growing taller, and her dress-thing seemed shorter than usual. Also, if I looked closely, her horns were shorter than they normally were and her hair was longer. That's when I realized what was happening. Naja had been getting bigger and bulkier and his skin had been getting darker right before he evolved. I figured Cerletti was going to evolve soon.

Naja, after evolving and learning fire fang, ice fang and thunder fang, was wreaking havoc with the wild Pokemon. Cerletti had definitely gotten stronger and with the addition of magical leaf to her arsenal, was causing some chaos of her own. Ares had gotten stronger, but more importantly, he had got a feel for battling and was using silver wind and sonicboom to take on multiple opponents from the safety of the skies.

I left my Pokemon to train on their own. I sat down and leaned against the trunk of a nearby tree before taking a ham sandwich that I had bought earlier out of my bag. I wolfed it down greedily. I though to myself for a second. Naja with thunder fang and Cerletti with magical leaf would surely make my Gym challenge much easier. In fact, I wondered why I was bothering to train; those moves had to be enough.

* * *

"Hey, Sean," I shouted over to the tall, surfer looking senior Gym trainer.

"Oh, hey," he said, walking over to me and giving me a smile.

"Is Kate back?" I asked.

"Yeah, why? Want to challenge her?"

"Yeah," I replied.

"Kate, challenge!" He bellowed. I saw someone at the opposite side of the Gym dive into the pool and disappear. The leader then surfaced right in front of me, barely seconds later. She - like most other people in the gym - was wearing a swimsuit. She had long, dark hair, a round face and a cheery smile that seemed to make the whole room brighter.

"Hi," she greeted me happily. "What badge will you be battling me for?"

"My second one," I replied.

"Okay, how many Pokemon are you using?" She seemed to be planning something in her head.

"Two," I answered, after a few seconds of consideration.

"Okay, well, up here then," she said cheerily, disappearing under the water once more and emerging at the back of the room. As I walked around the pool to get to the back, I noticed that a small section at the end of the pool had been closed off by rope, presumably for Gym challenges. I watched as Kate dived back into the pool and climbed out maybe half a minute later, two pokeballs held in her right hand.

"Alright," she said. "Because of technicalities, I have to see your trainers license," she informed me, holding out a hand. I dug the small card out of my pocket and handed it to her. She inspected it in much the same way Zach had before returning it to me. "You stand there," she said, gesturing to one side of the pool while she walked towards the other.

She dropped a pokeball and a medium sized quadrupedal creature burst out of it and jumped into the water. It was like a strange mammal-fish hybrid. It looked like some form of cat or dog, but it was covered in blue fish scales, had a fish tail and had several fish like frills and fins. I knew as soon as I saw it that I wanted one.

"That's a Vaporeon," she shouted over, noticing my look of interest. I released Naja, who jumped into the water without needing to be told.

"Shadow ball," Kate ordered her Vaporeon. I was so taken aback by that choice of attack - I had been expecting some kind of water based attack - that I failed to give Naja instructions. Thankfully, Naja was fully capable of coming up with a plan. He submerged himself to avoid the shadow ball and burst out of the water in front of the Vaporeon, fangs crackling with electricity.

"Ice fang!" I called to him. He obeyed without question, even though he must have thought thunder fang was a better way to go. The electricity died on his teeth and frost started coming from his mouth instead. He clamped his frosty teeth onto the Vaporeon's leg and then let go before retreating to avoid retaliation. My plan worked. The ice fang had frozen a good portion of the water to the Vaporeon's leg and it was having trouble keeping itself afloat.

"Heal bell," Kate told her Pokemon calmly. It opened it's mouth and - much to my surprise - produced a chiming sound.

"Thunder fang!" I called to Naja - who's teeth had started crackling with electricity before I'd even said the command. He clamped his jaws around the Vaporeon's other front leg, administered an electrical shock with the attack and backed off once more. The Vaporeon didn't look so good. That was until a chime came from seemingly nowhere and the cuts it sustained from Naja's attacks healed in seconds.

Naja didn't even need to be told this time; his fangs started crackling with electricity before I had given the command.

"Up!" Kate called to her Vaporeon. It rapidly cut through the water and climbed up onto the tiled floor. Naja, however, had tried to use thunder fang and missed, hitting the water instead. Obviously, that wasn't good. He started convulsing in the water and I knew that he had accidentally shocked himself with his missed thunder fang. I reluctantly returned him.

I considered who to send out next. Cerletti was clearly stronger and more experienced but Ares could skate on the water, which would hopefully prove useful, and could also fly over the water. The Vaporeon also knew shadow ball, which would probably make short work of Cerletti if she was hit. Cerletti did have magical leaf, though. I dropped Cerletti's pokeball and she burst out of it in a flash of light.

"Shadow ball!"

"Magical leaf!" Kate and I voiced our commands at the same time. The Vaporeon opened its mouth and a ball of shadows started forming in it. The Vaporeon shot the ball of shadows from its mouth, but at the same time, it was showered in multicolored, razor sharp leaves. I didn't see the damage that it did to the Vaporeon because Kate returned it, but I did see a considerable amount of blood.

Unfortunately, the shadow ball hit Cerletti in the chest and threw her against the wall. She slumped to the floor but managed to push herself back up to her feet.

"Okay, Scout," Kate said, dropping a pokeball. A striped, tan and brown, ferret like creature burst from the ball. The Furret formed a ball of shadows in its tiny paws and hurled it over the pool at Cerletti. She dived to the side and evaded the attack, although another one flew through the air and connected with her head, knocking her unconscious.

I had lost.


	16. Having Some Fun

Shedding Skins

Chapter Sixteen

Having Some Fun

* * *

After my loss, I trained like hell. I had never trained like it before; I didn't simply leave my team to pick fights with the wild Pokemon, I directed them in battle, I thought of strategies and tactics and I also paid attention to how they battled when I wasn't giving them commands. Most of all, though, I taught them new commands.

These commands weren't new moves, they were more like instructions. I managed to teach them all the commands left, right, dodge and water - for the next time we challenged Kate.

Naja already knew the choke command, although I also taught him the words hide, run and even drown. I found that he fought clever. He wasn't afraid to get up close to his opponents if it was necessary, but he would stay at a distance and spray them with acid if it suited him. He was getting stronger. His acid burned more, he was stronger, his teeth were sharper and he was faster.

Cerletti had growng taller, her hair was getting longer and her horns were getting shorter, as was her dress-thing. I was sure she would evolve soon. She was even starting to learn telepathy. She couldn't talk telepathically like Zener or Jung, but I could occasionally hear a word or two inside my head. Her confusion and shadow ball attacks were getting more potent, and she was producing sharper leaves in greater numbers with her magical leaf attacks.

Ares improved the most. His already possessed great speed, but after the time we spent training, he was little more than a tiny blur whenever he moved. He couldn't turn very well when going full speed but he could solve that problem by slowing down - after which he was still stupidly fast. He learned the command for double team, and learned the moves detect and supersonic - although I didn't get around to teaching him the commands for those moves. He also learned what the words fly, skate and wall meant.

We trained for two weeks straight, mostly in route thirty-six because the Pokemon there were stronger. We also trained alone. Marnie offered to come train with me but I refused; I wanted to train and I didn't want myself to be distracted. She didn't seem offended, which I was thankful for. She also trained, but took to training at the Gym rather than in the routes.

I tried to train my Pokemon in double battling, but my attempt was less than successful. Ares moved too fast for the other two to follow, Cerletti tried but wasn't very good at it and Naja just wasn't interested in team work. He was fine with the other two in general, but he preferred to battle alone.

I had also gotten much more used to Ares. I no longer shuddered when he decided to perch himself on my shoulder or head and I didn't get startled when he flew at me any more. I had more or less got over my dislike of bugs - with the notable exceptions of Spinarak and Ariados.

I was texting Forrest a lot over those two weeks. He was training at Lee's Gym a lot and was even offered a place as a Gym trainer. He refused the offer but said he had considered the idea. He also told me that he had caught a Shinx, which he had named Leo. That brought his total up to four Pokemon. I found myself wanting to catch and train another Pokemon, but I didn't come across any that I particularly wanted.

I also ruined more clothes than I could keep track of. I was constantly buying white t-shirts - they were so cheap that I could hardly believe it. My boots survived the marshy route, but my jeans weren't so lucky. Jeans, however, were expensive to buy so I decided to keep a single pair just for training, and kept another pair for when I needed to look acceptable.

"Go for the legs!" I called to Cerletti, who was firing off yet another magical leaf attack at an angry Stantler. I was trying to teach what legs meant, because if she could target and injure an opponents legs, she would stand a better chance of winning. Unfortunately, Cerletti's attempts at learning this were unsuccessful.

"Naja, legs!" I called to the cobra, who was also fighting a Stantler. I heard a sickening crunch as he latched onto its front right leg with his jaws and I winced. He retreated immediately after he let go. The Stantler tried to pursue him but fell onto its face because of its presumably broken leg. Well, at least Naja knew what legs meant.

I had thought of strategies for taking down Kate's Pokemon. Naja could partially freeze his opponents with ice fang if they were in the water, he could paralyze them with glare, hopefully poison them with poison sting or choke them and drag them down at the same time - unless it was a water type.

Cerletti could shower them with magical leaves and shadow balls from a distance. If the opponent got too close, she could either throw them backwards with confusion or teleport away from them.

Ares was the most versatile with strategies, because he could go more or less anywhere. He could fly, skate on the surface of the water, stick to the walls or just stay by the side of the pool. Sonicboom and silver wind could usually hit the the opponent, as long as they weren't too far away. In the enclosed space of the Gym, those attacks would always hit Kate's Pokemon.

"Okay, guys!" I shouted over to my Pokemon, who were all fighting wild Pokemon. Ares was hovering a few feet in front of me barely seconds later. Cerletti - who was waist height by now and looked like she would evolve very soon- came next, then Naja - who looked solid with muscle and was positively terrifying.

"I think we're done for the day," I said to them. The sky was starting to get dark and I didn't really want to be out here at night.

* * *

I didn't even know what to do when I arrived at the Center. There was some form of party going on, complete with music, dancing and alcohol. I just stood there stupidly for a few seconds before making my way to the stairs and ascending to my room.

"What's happening down there?" I asked Marnie, who looked like she was preparing to go out.

"A trainer just got his eighth badge from Kate and the Center's staff are throwing him a party," she replied, putting her pokeballs and a few other things in her pockets. "On that note, I also managed to beat Kate today," she said proudly, holding up a shiny new badge. It was golden, and shaped like the head of a trident, with a small, blue K at the bottom of the badge.

"That's really great," I said.

"So, you don't have more badges than me any more," she told me, clearly delighted.

"I will have after tomorrow," I replied, deciding then and there that that's when I would challenge Kate to a rematch.

"Unless you lose again," she taunted. "I beat Kate on my first try."

"Hey, I beat Zach first try. In fact, Cerletti was undertrained, Naja was shedding and the Larvitar that I had at the time wouldn't listen to me and I still won," I countered.

"You had a Larvitar?" Her eyebrows shot upwards at least an inch.

"Yeah. He was stolen just before I arrived here," I replied, my tone indicating that I didn't want to discuss it. She caught on.

"Well, I'm going to that party," she said, changing the subject.

"Think I'll go as well," I said, more to myself than to her.

"Not like that you won't." She gestured to my ruined t-shirt and muddy jeans.

"Yeah, I'll change, then," I told her. "Bye."

"Bye," she said back to me, exiting the room. I quickly changed into my acceptable jeans and a black t-shirt that wasn't stained, before stuffing my pokeballs, my keys, Zach's badge and some money into my pocket and leaving for the party.

It wasn't like any other party I'd ever been to, because the only people there were trainers. They didn't talk about music or movies, they talked only about training. It wasn't long before I noticed that there were three main groups of trainers.

There were the beginners. They were mostly my age and they talked mainly about how training sucked for them. They also shared advice with each other and tried to casually mention how many badges they had, as if one or two badges would impress people. Marnie was sitting with them and seemed to enjoy their company, but I found them irritating and couldn't bear to sit with them for more than five minutes.

There were the veteran trainers. They reminded me of Tyson and Raynor. Most of them were getting drunk and laughing at, or telling, funny stories about training. I liked them, but I didn't fit in there. They were all talking about places, people and Pokemon that I had never even heard of. I got up and left because I couldn't really contribute anything their conversations.

I ended up sitting with the ones that were in between. I found that while I only had one badge, I could identify with them more. My training experiences were more similar to theirs than to the beginners'. Most, if not all of them had lost at least one Pokemon, just like me and most of them had been beaten by a Gym leader, like I had with Kate.

"You lost a Pokemon already? And you've only got one badge?" A trainer named Derek asked incredulously. I nodded. "Dude...I got four badges and I only ever lost one Pokemon," he sighed, taking a drink of his water.

"How'd you lose it?" I asked. I knew from personal experience that it was a sensitive subject but I asked the question before I could stop myself. Derek didn't seem to mind.

"It was a Kecleon. My starter, actually." I felt sympathy for him. "I was training in Blackthorn, in the mountains. A Skarmory attacked him out the blue. I set my Arcanine on it but it was just too damn fast," he was grinding his teeth in anger by now, although he probably didn't notice it. "He climbed higher and higher up the side of a mountain to get away from the Skarmory, and my Arcanine hit him with a jet of fire by accident. My Kecleon fell. He was dead as soon as he hit the ground," he finished, looking like he wanted to kill something.

"So, how did you lose yours?" He asked, trying to discreetly wipe a tear away. I couldn't refuse, not after he'd told me that.

"My starter was killed, too," I said quietly. I was surprised he heard it. "It was a Chikorita. We were on route thirty-seven and it was my first day of training. We were attacked by a Heracross - thanks to me," I said, smiling a little a the memory. "When it got dark, I decided to travel, not knowing what kind of Pokemon came out at night. We walked straight into Ariados territory. My Chikorita got stuck to the web. It didn't have a chance," I told him, not going into the specifics of how the bug killed it.

"D'you kill the Ariados?" He asked, eyes intent on mine.

"Yes," I admitted, looking away.

"I killed the Skarmory. Well, I was even worse; I got my Arcanine to kill it," he told me.

Thankfully, that was the only depressing conversation of the night. About an hour later, I was talking to some other trainers. They were giving me advice about beating Kate. Apparently, she was difficult to beat early on in the circuit because she used a lot of evolved Pokemon. They advised me to use Pokemon that didn't evolve into or from any other.

"Hey. It's you," someone said from behind me. I turned around and saw another trainer standing above me. It was a few seconds before I realized that it was Seviper girl.

"Yeah, it's me," I said, standing up and turning around to face her.

"You're that asshole I met in Goldenrod."

"Sorry. I was having a bad day," I apologized, actually meaning it this time.

"It's fine. I'm Hazel," she introduced herself.

"Linus."

"So, you're challenging Kate to a rematch tomorrow?" She asked, presumably overhearing me talking to the other trainers.

"Yeah. It'll be my second badge," I replied.

"I just got my third today," she told me.

"Yo!" I heard someone shout. I turned around and saw a trainer that I had been talking to earlier give me a wave. "Up for some card games?" I wasn't really expecting that. I turned around to talk to Hazel but she was gone.

"Uhh...Yeah, okay," I called back.

* * *

We played a lot of card games. I even tried poker - although there were too many rules and it confused me too much, but it was fun to try it once.

Although it started off as small amounts of money, it didn't stay that way for very long. The bets gradually rose, and I found myself with considerably more money.

"How about...a game of blackjack?" A trainer asked me. He was the oldest of us, and had been throwing money around all night. More often than not, he lost.

"Alright," I replied. I wasn't going to turn down a card game against a guy with rotten luck.

"D'you wanna deal?" He slurred, clearly drunk. Made my chances even better. There was alcohol and gambling at the party - and I saw a few of the older trainers with little plastic pouches of suspicious looking white powder. Either the staff had somehow not noticed, or were simply turning a blind eye.

"Not really," I replied. He quickly shuffled the cards and put them face down on the table. He took the two cards from the top and put them face down in front of me. I held them up to see what they were. A one and a two.

"Hit," I said. He handed me another card. A five. "Hit," I repeated. Another two. "Hit," I said for a final time. A jack - which counted for ten points. That brought my total up to twenty. "Stand," I said.

He took the next two cards from the deck and had a look at them. "Hit," he said, more to himself than to me. He took another card and a smile spread across his face. "Buy," he said. He wanted to double the bet. That was fine with me - I had more than enough money.

"Alright," he grinned, spreading his cards across the table for me to see. I did likewise. He had a six, a two and an ace. That gave him a total of nineteen. He saw my cards and his face fell. He quickly reached into his pockets and his face fell further.

"Fuck," he hissed. "I...I don't have any money left," he admitted, searching his pockets again. I wasn't really bothered - as I said earlier, I had won enough money that night. I would have just left it at that and told him it was fine, but he reached down and took something out of his bag - which was on the floor.

"How about this instead?" He suggested nervously, holding up a pale blue ball. Well, I thought it was a ball at first. It was about the size of a pokeball, but its shape was different. It was a second before I figured out that it was an egg. What Pokemon was inside it was a complete mystery to me.

"Yeah. Yeah, that's fine," I said, taking the egg.


	17. Second Try

Shedding Skins

Chapter Seventeen

Second Try

* * *

"Morning," I said loudly, deliberately waking Marnie up.

"Shut the fuck up," she said through her pillow.

"But it's a beautiful morning, Marnie. You shouldn't be wasting a day like this!" I shouted, throwing a pillow at her.

"Piss off," she growled.

"Today's such a great day, though! I won lots of money! I've got an egg! I'm getting my second badge! And..." I trailed off. I caught sight of my Pokemon. Naja was sleeping, curled up in the corner. Ares was sticking to a wall, also sleeping. Cerletti was getting up - I had woken her as well as Marnie. But Cerletti was different.

Her hair was longer, and covered only one eye, she now had one horn on each side of her head and she was more slender. Her dress thing was much shorter than it had been before - it was more like a very short skirt than a dress actually.

"Apparently Cerletti evolved," I finished.

"That's all great. Now if you don't let me sleep, I swear to god I will kill you," she practically hissed. I wasn't sure if she was joking.

I took a shower, got dressed and packed my bag. I then took out my pokeballs and returned Naja and Ares.

_"Don't put me in there," _said a voice in my head, just as I was about to return Cerletti. So, she was telepathic now. That would make things so much easier.

"Sorry, I have to," I told her, returning her, despite her psychic protests. It was really looking to be a good day. "See you later," I called back to Marnie as I headed towards the door.

"I'll probably be gone by the time you get back," Marnie said to me, sounding a little disappointed. I was disappointed too. We had become good friends and I didn't really want to part ways so soon.

"Oh. Well, we'll probably meet again," I said, trying to look at the positive side of it. I actually believed that we would meet again so that made it better. We exchanged phone numbers and then I left for the Violet Gym.

* * *

"I was beginning to think you wouldn't come back!" Sean greeted me. I gave a half hearted chuckle. The only thing I was interested in was my battle with Kate and the badge that would come after that. Sean seemed to sense this and led me to Kate, who was at the back of the Gym, with a few of her Pokemon.

"Oh, Gym battle?" She asked, turning her attention to me.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Trainer's license?" She held out her hand. I gave it to her. She looked at it for a fraction of a second before handing it back.

"Thanks," I said, putting the piece of paper back in my pocket.

"Are you using two Pokemon again?" She asked.

"No, three this time," I replied. She dived into the pool and came up about half a second later with three pokeballs in her hands.

"Ready?" She asked. I nodded and walked to one side of the pool. She walked to the side opposite me. I had decided to use Cerletti first. Naja was my strongest Pokemon, so I didn't want to use him first, and Ares was my one Pokemon that she didn't know about, so I didn't want to use him first either.

She threw down a pokeball and a ferret like creature burst out of it in a flash of light. At first, I thought it was her Furret again, but then I recognized that it was a different Pokemon. It was nasty looking, with long claws, a streamlined, sleek body and piercing blue eyes. It was a Linoone.

"Okay, Trek, in the water," she said to it. I dropped Cerletti's pokeball and she burst out of it, looking slightly annoyed at me. I figured it was for returning her against her will.

"Magical leaf it. If it gets too close, teleport or throw it back with confusion. Oh yeah, and don't go into the water," I instructed her quietly, so as not to let Kate hear.

_"I don't have to listen to you," _she said into my head. I immediately had a sinking feeling.

The Linoone jumped into the water and rapidly swam towards our end of the pool. Cerletti launched a shadow ball at the Linoone, but it ducked under the water for a second and the projectile passed harmlessly over its head.

"Use magical leaf," I urged her. Cerletti completely ignored me and launched another shadow ball - this one bigger than the previous one. It hit the Linoone head on, but the ferret passed through the ball of shadows, unharmed. It then shot out of the water and onto the tiles, before it lunged at Cerletti and drew its head back.

"Teleport!" I shouted at her, desperately. Instead, she dived to the side and evaded the lunge. My hopes rose a little, but they plummeted again when the Linoone made another lunge at her and took her to the ground. She teleported to the other side of the pool in an attempt to escape, but she took the Linoone with her. It pulled its head back and smashed it into her face, hard.

I saw blood pouring from her face and knew immediately that I had to return her. I gave a great sigh. The Linoone hadn't been hit once and Cerletti was out. That left Naja and Ares to beat the Linoone and her remaining two Pokemon. If only she had listened to me in the first place, she might have won. I thought for a moment before deciding to release Naja.

"Be careful. You need to fight the next one as well," I told him. He seemed to understand. He slithered slowly around the pool, towards the Linoone.

"Giga impact," Kate called to the Linoone when Naja was about six feet from it.

"Water!" I practically screamed to Naja. The Linoone seemed to tense every muscle in its body for less than a second, then shot forwards with such speed that could rival that of Ares. Naja shot himself at the pool and landed in it with a splash. The Linoone missed its target and crashed into the wall with such incredible force that it shattered a large number of the wall tiles, making a deafening series of smashing noises.

A large cloud of dust was released, so that it hid the Linoone from sight. When it finally cleared, there was a large indent in the wall, and shattered tiles lying about the floor beneath it. What really caught my attention, though, was the Linoone. There was a strange formation on its head, that I realized after a few seconds, was a large crack. Blood was leaking everywhere, had I not seen it, I would have thought it impossible for such a small creature to possess so much blood.

I didn't need to ask Kate to know that the Linoone was dead. Sure, it was terrible that one of Kate's Pokemon had just died. I couldn't even imagine the guilt she must be feeling - it had died because of Kate's order - but I just couldn't think about it. The only thing I could think of was what would have happened to Naja if the attack had hit. I didn't really feel sympathy for Kate, not after she'd done something so incredibly stupid.

Kate raised its pokeball and wordlessly returned it, then dropped another pokeball on the ground, releasing a medium sized, green, lizard. I recognized it instantly. I had basically fantasized about having its pre-evolution as a starter, before I had begun training. It was a Grovyle.

Kate wasn't putting in much effort - understandably. She didn't speak to the Grovyle, just gestured to the water a little. It dived into the water and stared intently at Naja. I found a way to use that to my advantage.

"Glare!" I shouted, ignoring the death of the Linoone. I know it was selfish, but I had to get my second badge. It froze, although it still managed to keep itself afloat somehow.

"Acid!" Naja obliged, and shot a stream of projectile acid at the lizard. The purple liquid soaked the Grovyle, although it submerged itself in the water, which washed it all off of him.

"Ice fang!" Naja slithered through the water towards it and latched onto on of its arms with his fangs, which were giving off frost. A large chunk of ice formed on its arm and weighed it down. It couldn't hold itself above the water with such a weight on its arm and sank under the water. I waited for a few seconds for Kate to return it, but she didn't.

I looked over to see Kate staring blankly at the water in front of her feet. She didn't seem to have noticed that her Grovyle was drowning.

"Naja, help it!" I shouted to him. He promptly disappeared beneath the surface of the water. Even my shout didn't bring Kate out of her trance. "Kate!" I called to her, trying to get her attention. It didn't work. Naja bobbed to the surface with stockpile, the Grovyle clinging to his inflated body. "Kate!" I practically screamed, finally getting her attention.

"Sorry!" She yelped, returning the Grovyle. She then released her Vaporeon, who seemed to recognize Naja and jumped into the water and started for him immediately. Unfortunately, Naja was still inflated from stockpile and couldn't move very quickly at all. The Vaporeon launched a shadow ball from its mouth, which struck Naja's hood. He was pushed back by the attack and hissed in pain, before managing to fully deflate.

The Vaporeon then shot a ball of pulsating water at Naja, which also struck his hood. Unfortunately, the water pulse succeeded in confusing Naja, and he was so disorientated that he was incapable of staying afloat in the water. I reluctantly returned him.

I took a deep breath. It as one on one now. If Ares could beat the Vaporeon, then I would get a badge, if not then I would only have one more chance at beating Kate. I figured my odds were good, as Ares was a good battler and the Vaporeon wasn't receiving any instructions from Kate. I dropped the ultra ball and Ares burst out in a flash of light and hovered next to me.

"Silver wind and sonicboom," I instructed him, clamping my hands over my ears. He hovered over the pool, dodging water pulses and shadow balls from the Vaporeon. He started beating his wings, and after a few seconds a piercing noise could be heard as he used sonicboom. I could still hear it, but it was bearable because my hands were muffling the sound.

The Vaporeon stopped and cringed, before being blown underwater by the force of Ares' silver wind attack. It wasn't exactly a quick victory, but Ares didn't get hit once. He basically spammed those two moves until Kate returned her Vaporeon.

I walked around the pool and met Kate in the middle. She had released two other Pokemon - bigger ones, clearly stronger, older and more experienced - that were washing the Linoone's blood off the floor with jets of water. One of them caught my eye. It was a large penguin that appeared to be wearing a suit. Its flippers were huge and wide, with three small claws on the inside of them and metal lining the edges.

The thing that caught my eye the most about this Pokemon, however, was its face. It had what appeared to be the head of a golden trident on its face. I realized that it looked exactly like a big version of Marnie's badge, just without the K at the bottom of it.

"Well done," she croaked, handing me a disc, a badge and a substantial amount of money. "License." She held out her hand. I gave it to her, she quickly scrawled her signature on one of the boxes on the back and handed it to me before walking away without another word.


	18. The Fox

Shedding Skins

Chapter Eighteen

The Fox

* * *

I walked back into my room at the Pokemon Center after getting my second badge. I wasn't really expecting Marnie to be there, but I was still disappointed that she wasn't.

I had got Cerletti checked out by one of the nurses when I came into the Center, apparently her nose was nearly broken, although it wasn't, and should heal fine on its own.

I stuffed my prize money into my bag, and noticed that the amount of money in there was getting to be too much. After Tyson leaving me all that money, winning so much at the party and getting prize money, I was pretty rich. I figured that my money would slowly deplete because of paying for rooms at Pokemon Centers but that hopefully wouldn't happen for a while yet.

I had also noticed something about my badges. Zach's looked like the body of his Metagross - which I knew was one of his strongest and most trusted Pokemon - and Kate's looked like the trident on her Empoleon - which I guessed was also one of her strongest Pokemon. So, I figured that the badges were designed after one of their well known Pokemon.

I put the TM in the bag with the one I had gotten from Zach. I guessed that the one Kate gave me was shadow ball - seeing as how so many of her Pokemon seemed to know the move - although I couldn't be sure.

I left Violet City the same day I got my badge. I didn't mind. I had been sad to leave Goldenrod because I had grown somewhat attached to the place but, even though I had beaten at Violet City for longer, I didn't feel attached to it in the the slightest. In fact, I slightly disliked the place.

Someone at the Pokemon Center saw me putting the egg in my bag and told me that if I carried it, it would hatch faster. They also told me that certain fire types would cause the egg to hatch faster, just by being in close proximity to it, but I had no fire types at all, so it didn't really matter.

So, I carried the egg in my arms to route thirty-six. I was planning to pass through routes thirty-six and thirty-seven to get to Ecruteak. I would then train for a while, beat the Gym Leader, meet Forrest and then the two of us would continue on to get our fourth badges.

Route thirty-six was easy. It was completely dry, so it was just a case of walking on hard, stable ground. No trudging through mud like last time, no pushing my way through constant tall grass and nettles, like route thirty-five, just walking.

I let Naja, Cerletti and Ares out while I walked. Since Cerletti had learned telepathy, we could communicate with each other and actually have a conversation. It made the our travels through the routes so much easier.

I had no doubt that Naja understood enough English to hold a conversation, but unfortunately, I didn't speak Arbok. That got me thinking of something. I had read about translators people could get that would let them understand their Pokemon. The only thing was that they were expensive, but I had more than enough money. I made a mental note to look for one when I arrived in Ecruteak.

Ares was constantly picking fights. Whenever he saw a Pokemon, regardless of what species it was, how big it was, how aggressive it was and how strong it was, he would attack it. He lost a few times but he was winning much more. I figured that at that rate he would end up becoming my strongest Pokemon. Especially when he evolved. I knew that Yanmega were nasty looking bugs.

"Come on -" I started, but I stopped midway through my sentence. I had felt the egg move. I stopped and concentrated hard on the egg. It felt like something gave a jump inside the egg. I let out a cry of excitement - the baby Pokemon was moving around inside!

_"Is it moving?" _Cerletti asked me telepathically. I saw Naja looking at the egg quizzically and knew that he was wondering the same thing.

"Yeah. It feels like it's jumping or something," I replied, grinning stupidly. I started wondering what Pokemon could be inside the egg. I tried to think of all the pale blue Pokemon I knew of. There were a variety of pale blue water types - Horsea, Azurill and Mudkip, for example, although there much more than just those three. I could think of very few non water types of that color. There was Shinx, Phanpy, Wynaut and not much else. Unfortunately, none of those particularly appealed to me.

"Cerletti?" I said. She turned to me and waited for me to say more. "Could you try talking to the Pokemon inside the egg?"

_"I can try but I can't guarantee anything," _she replied. She stared at the egg and closed her eyes, concentrating. A few seconds passed before she put one hand to the side of her head and swayed on her feet a little. She then abruptly opened her eyes shook her head, as if to clear it.

"What happened?" I asked, excited about what it may have said.

_"It couldn't form words but I got an idea of its feelings. It was angry and hateful, even at such a young age," _she told me, sounding slightly worried. I wasn't expecting that. I wasn't too keen on the idea of a hateful Pokemon. Naja wasn't exactly a loving Pokemon and Wreck hadn't particularly liked me but neither had been actually hateful.

"How hateful?" I asked.

_"It's more than just hateful. It's a dark, even twisted creature," _she replied.

"But -" I started but I was cut off by a deep, threatening hiss from Naja. I turned around and saw him hissing at the trees. If it was either of my other Pokemon I would have probably dismissed it, but not Naja. If he was hissing at something, I knew it was not to be taken lightly.

"Get ready. I think there's something there," I said quietly. Even Ares stopped zooming about and perched on my shoulder. Naja was considerably closer to the trees than the rest of us but I wasn't really scared for him. I was confident that he could handle anything on this route.

Naja suddenly spat a jet of acid into the trees - the acid was darker than I had ever seen and there was much more of it. There was a yelp and something ran out from the trees, half covered in acid.

It was a quadrupedal, dog like Pokemon. The creature was covered in white fur - although it was dirty in several places - and had nine long, flowing tails, each tipped with orange. It had a large crest of fur on its head and a white ruff of fur around its neck. It had one gleaming red eye and one bloody, empty eye socket. Even with muddy fur and missing an eye, it was still a majestic Pokemon.

The Ninetales let out a bark and opened its mouth, shooting a long, narrow jet of fire at Naja. Naja was quick, though, and darted out of the way of the flames. I was about to tell Naja to use thunder fang on the Ninetales, but I was distracted by Ares flying off of my shoulder and homing in on the fox._  
_

"Ares!" I screamed after him, digging around in my pocket for his ultra ball. The Ninetales nimbly dodged a stream of acid but Ares crashed into it seconds later. It didn't appear to do much damage. I finally managed to get his ultra ball in my hand and I pointed it to him. Before I could return him, however, the Ninetales shot a stream of fire at him.

This time, Ares just wasn't quick enough to dodge it. His wings stopped beating as they caught fire and he spiraled to the ground, letting out a hideous screech that made my skin crawl. I quickly returned him to his ultra ball, hoping with every inch of my being that he would be okay. I didn't think I could bear the loss of yet another Pokemon.

I shoved the Pokeball into my pocket and took off my bag. I carefully placed the egg in the biggest part and carefully with drew a long, sharp knife that I had bought in Violet city. Nothing was going to take another Pokemon from me. No exceptions. I turned around and ran towards Naja and the Ninetales, Cerletti following behind me.

Naja ducked under yet another stream of fire and the Ninetales danced away from another jet of acid. It seemed to hear my footsteps and turned its attention on me. My fingers tightened around the handle of my knife. It ran at me and I prepared to attack it with my knife, but before I could it disappeared. It then reappeared behind Cerletti, who was next to me, and bit her shoulder. I recognized the faint attack and hastily withdrew Cerletti before she could be really hurt.

Unfortunately for me, I was closer than Naja, so it jumped at me next. I hadn't really realized how fast it was, so I was unprepared for its attack. I was knocked to the ground, with the Ninetales on top of me. I acted without really thinking about it. I clenched my free hand into a fist and brought it up, catching the Ninetales in the throat. It let out a strange noise, similar to a wheeze.

Naja then attacked, latching onto its side with a thunder fang attack. I then attacked with my knife, aiming for its chest. I was no good with the knife, though, and only managed to make a cut on one of its front legs. It fell away from me but jumped straight back to its feet. It tried to take a run at Naja and I, but it collapsed when it put weight on the leg I had just injured.

Naja didn't hesitate - he went straight for its throat and clamped his jaws down, cutting through the flesh of its neck and releasing what must have been gallons of blood. Barely half a minute later, it was dead.

* * *

Ares was still alive. His wings had been completely burned off and he was inept at walking, but I remembered the bug fanatic telling me a few weeks previously that if he lost his wings, they would regrow. I just really hoped it was true.

The bite to Cerletti's shoulder had bled a lot, but I managed to stop the bleeding with the sparse medical supplies I had in my bag. I was proud of how well I had managed to patch her up.

Naja had lost the last two or three inches of his tail. I remembered reading somewhere that Arbok could regrow lost body parts, as long as their head and hood was still intact. Naja seemed fine with it, in fact, he even seemed proud of it, like he enjoyed having battle scars - even though it would regrow soon.

The egg didn't move again. I was getting myself really wound up about the egg because of what Cerletti had said its thoughts. I really didn't want a Pokemon that would probably try to kill me. If it turned out to be a strong Pokemon, then that would be even worse.

"We should reach Ecruteak tomorrow," I said to Naja, Cerletti and Ares, who were all sitting with me, under a particularly large tree.

_"The dragonfly needs medical attention," _Cerletti said in my mind, gesturing to said dragonfly's missing wings. He didn't seem to like this much but wasn't very good at walking so had no choice but to stay there and do nothing.

"He's going to be fine," I reassured everybody, even though I wasn't sure if it was true. Nothing at all was left of his wings. I was finding it hard to believe that he could simply regrow them.

It was dark and I couldn't really be bothered travelling any more than I had already, so I decided we would sleep under the tree. It had been a very tiring time for me recently, and I fell asleep as soon as I climbed inside my sleeping bag.


	19. Returning

Shedding Skins

Chapter Nineteen

Returning

* * *

I dropped my bag in the middle of the floor and sat on the bed, carefully placing the evil egg down beside me. I released Naja - the other two were being seen to by the nurse downstairs. He just slithered off into the corner, coiled his body up and went to sleep.

I took out my phone and started typing a text message. I had already sent Forrest a message telling him about my encounter with the strange, one eyed Ninetales. He had suggested that it had been trained previously and either escaped or was released. I had not, however, told him about the egg being evil.

_Cerletti read the egg's mind and she said it was dark, angry, hateful and twisted. What the hell?_

I was about to send it to Forrest but I hovered over his name for a second before reconsidering and scrolling further down to find Marnie's name. I paused for a moment before clicking her name and sending it.

I jumped in for a quick shower - I hadn't washed since leaving Violet City. When I came back out, there was a reply from Marnie.

_I have no idea but I'm lost in Union Cave. We're no match for the wild Pokemon here and we just got attacked by an angry Absol. In fact, it killed my Weedle and injured my other Pokemon. How do I get out of here? I think I'm going to die._

My eyes widened when I read the message. I was obviously worried for her but she was at the other side of the region and there wasn't much I could do. I was sure she would be fine anyway; I had thought I was going to die before and lived. I convinced myself that she would be fine. I thought for a second before starting to type a reply.

_Does your pokedex not have a map of all the major routes, caves, etc?_

I was sure I had read that before on the internet or on some book. I turned on the tiny little T.V in the room and watched the news for about fifteen minutes. Apparently the Elite Four were having some kind of feud with the government and were threatening to take action. What that meant, I don't know.

I switched the T.V off and went down to the reception, where I was handed Ares and Cerletti's ultra ball and pokeball respectively.

"Your Yanma's wings will be fully healed in about a week," the nurse told me when I picked them up. "Your Kirlia's more or less fine," she added.

"Thanks," I said, pocketing the balls and exiting the Center. It was kind of nice to be back in Ecruteak again. Scary, because I would have to face my city's Gym Leader and I would have to visit my parents, but still nice. I started to make my way towards a small cafe that I went to regularly before leaving to become a trainer when I heard a voice behind me.

"You," the voice said to me. I turned around and saw a familiar red-haired trainer grinning stupidly. "Are looking at a registered Pokemon League participant," he beamed.

"You got your eighth badge?" I asked, a grin spreading across my face.

"Yeah! And I didn't just beat Reece, I completely trashed him!" I had never seen him happier. "Anyway, I take it you got Zach's badge then?"

"And Kate's," I said proudly, digging said badges out of my pocket and holding them out in the palm of my hand for him to see.

"Wow. Kate's tough to beat early on. Mostly 'cause she she uses so many evolved Pokemon. Well done," Tyson told me. I felt a little surge of pride.

About half an hour later, we found ourselves on route thirty-eight. It was really just a messy jumble of dirt paths, long stretches of grass, fences and ledges. It seemed to be a popular route, as I could see about half a dozen other trainers directing their Pokemon and trying to teach them commands.

"Did you see that on the news?" I asked Tyson, referring to the feud between the Elite Four and the government.

"What on the news?" He asked, through a mouthful of sandwich. We had stopped at a shop on the way and bought food.

"The feud between the Elite Four and the government?" He seemed to consider for a few moments before replying.

"I know about it, but not from the news," he replied cautiously.

"How do you know about it then?" I asked, perplexed. He went into thought again and I knew he was considering if he should tell me or not.

"I'm close friends with an Elite Four member," he replied finally, deciding to tell me. I could hardly believe it. I knew that Tyson was a great trainer and all that but the Elite Four were on a completely different level. How did he know an Elite Four member?

"What Elite Four member?" I asked.

"Shenzi. I met her at the Olivine Gym when I was battling for my third badge. She was fighting for her eighth and stomped the Leader into the ground," he told me. I knew that Jan had only become a Gym Leader recently and quickly did the math in my head.

"Jan wasn't the Leader back then, was she?" I inquired.

"No, It was Pauli Grey back then. That guy was a tough bastard, in fact, he was even tougher than Reece. It's too bad he retired," Tyson sighed.

"Why did he retire?" I asked. "Was it his age?" I vaguely knew who Pauli Grey was and remembered him being pretty old.

"No, it was the age of his Pokemon. He was told that if they kept battling then they would die, so he retired and went to live in Cainwood," Tyson explained. I could hear the admiration in his voice and just knew that this guy was Tyson's hero.

"So, do you know what the feud between the government and the Elite Four is about?" I got the feeling that I was pushing my luck.

"It's..." Tyson started. It was clear that he didn't really want to tell me. "It's about trainer rights. Hate crimes against trainers aren't really taken seriously by the government," he continued.

"Why?" I asked, appalled.

"The government are bigots, that's why," he seethed.

"What's a bigot?"

"A bigot? It's like a...never mind. Basically, the government don't like trainers. In fact, I figure training would be outlawed if the government weren't so shit scared of the Elite Four. It was never like this before the election last year," Tyson lamented. I knew what he was talking about. Last year, a new government had came to power and won the election by a landslide. Having no interest in politics, I didn't give it much thought.

"Why are the government so scared of the Elite Four? I mean, I know they're strong but they're only four people," I asked.

"Trainers respect the Elite Four. They look up to them. They trust them, all for good reason. The Elite Four could use that to basically build themselves an army of trainers. Imagine every championship participant, every wandering trainer, every Champion, Gym Leader, Frontier Brain and every trainer in between, all going up against the government," Tyson said a little dreamily, a strange look crossing his face. I got the impression that he wanted a chance to stand up to the government.

"If that happened, who do you think would win?" I asked, trying to decide what my answer would be.

"It's a tough one. They would have sheer numbers, as well as guns and missiles and all that. We would have our Pokemon, though, and there's a whole lot of things we could do then," he replied. I noticed that he referred to the two sides as Us and Them.

"Like what?"

"Set fire to buildings, take out the electricity, cause floods, start blizzards and a ton of other things. And that's even before we start trashing cities with really big or powerful Pokemon," he said, a somewhat alarming look coming over his face. It was as if he looked forward to the prospect of wreaking havoc with his Pokemon. I was about to say something else when my phone went off.

_Thanks. I just got out of Union Cave using my pokedex's map. Should be in Azelea by tonight._

I breathed a sigh of relief at that. When she told me that she had been attacked by an Absol of all things, and that one of her Pokemon had been killed, I had really started to get worried.

"Who's that?" Tyson asked, changing the subject.

"Just a friend I met in Violet City. She's been lost in Union Cave for the last few hours and just got out there," I replied.

"Ah. I remember Union Cave. I'm going to go back there to catch an Onix at some point," he told me. "I've wanted one since I started training," he added.

"Why haven't you caught one already then?" I asked.

"Because you need a class five license," he replied, as if such a thing were obvious.

"Class five?" I questioned.

"You don't know about license classes?" He asked, surprised. I shook my head. "Well, class one is the lowest - everyone starts with a class one license - and class five is the highest. Every time you get two badges your license class goes up," he explained.

"What does your license class actually do?"

"A lot of things. There are places that you can't go to, items you can't buy, Pokemon you can't own, Pokemon you can't breed and events you can't participate in until you have a certain license class. You need a class five license to own or breed Onix and I only got my class five license when I beat Reece this week," he told me.

"I have two badges. Does that mean I have a class two license?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"What difference does a class two license make?" He thought for a bit.

"You can buy more medical products and there are some other Pokemon you can legally own. For example, you can legally evolve Cerletti into a Gardevoir now," he informed me.

"Is that it?" I asked, a little disappointed.

"Yeah. Wait, no. You can legally care for a Pokemon egg now," Tyson corrected himself. I felt a smile spreading across my face.

"Class two licenses don't entitle you to much. Class three lets you own a lot more Pokemon and class four lets you breed Pokemon without an actual breeder's license. Class five lets you go to places like Mt. Silver, compete in the Pokemon League and become a senior Gym trainer. There are other things but I can't remember them," he said.

"I can care for an egg?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "Why?"

"Because of this," I replied, taking the egg out of my bag.

"Nice!" Tyson exclaimed, leaning forward to take a closer look at the egg. "What kind of egg is it?"

"According to Cerletti's mind reading, the evil, twisted, dark, hateful kind. As for species, I don't know," I told him.

"How can you not know? Wait, how did you get the egg?" He asked, a look of concern crossing his face.

"I won it in a card game and forgot to ask the guy what kind of egg it was," I replied, not seeing the problem.

"Linus, do you know how screwed you're going to be if it's a Pokemon that requires higher than a class two license to own?" I didn't.

"Uh...Very?" I guessed.

"You could have your training license taken off you," Tyson said gravely.

"What do I do if it hatches and I don't have the right license class?" I asked, shitting myself in case my license was taken off me. Now that I had been training for a while, I couldn't imagine a life without it. I couldn't imagine a life without my Pokemon. He let out a sigh.

"You'll cross that bridge when you come to it," he told me reassuringly. I got the impression that he had a plan in mind but wasn't telling me.

"I suppose..."

"You know, I can't believe Kate didn't tell you about license classes when you beat her," Tyson said.

"She was a bit preoccupied," I told him.

"With what?"

"Well, her Linoone tried to use giga impact, missed, hit the wall and died," I answered.

"Giga impact?" Tyson practically growled.

"Yeah?" I didn't see the problem. The next thing I knew, there was a flash of light, a golden hand grasped mine and I suddenly wasn't there anymore.


	20. Brawl

Shedding Skins

Chapter Twenty

Brawl

* * *

I blinked rapidly to regain my vision and swayed on my feet a little. I still didn't like teleporting but at least it didn't make me want to puke my guts up any more.

_"Are you alright?" _Zener asked me telepathically. I nodded before taking a look around. We were back in Violet City, standing in front of the entrance to the Gym.

"Wait here," Tyson told me before he strode through the doors of the Gym. I would do no such thing. I slid past Zener and walked in after him.

"Tyson," I called but he either ignored me or else didn't hear me.

"Hey, you here for a challenge?" Sean asked cheerily, stepping in front of Tyson.

_"I will not force you to wait outside, but I must insist that you keep your distance, for your own safety," _Zener warned me. I heeded the warning and stayed just at the doors.

"No, I'm here to see Kate," Tyson growled back at the senior Gym trainer. Sean sensed that there was something wrong.

"Hey, cool down. Whatever it is, you can talk it out," Sean tried - and failed - to calm Tyson.

"Get out of my way," Tyson growled, trying to walk past him. Sean made the mistake of putting an arm out to block Tyson's path. Tyson interpreted that as an attack and buried his fist in Sean's stomach in retaliation. Sean let out a gasp and doubled over. Tyson then smashed his fist into Sean's jaw. Sean fell back and landed in the water with a splash.

"Hey!" I shouted at Tyson. I knew that Sean was a good guy and that attack was completely uncalled for. Tyson didn't hear me, though, as my voice was drowned out by another.

"How dare you!" Called a harsh voice. I saw Kate striding up to Tyson, an Empoleon and Pidgeot trailing behind her. She looked completely different. She was angry but focused, with a sudden air of authority and a new commanding tone in her voice. I cringed away from her, and I was nowhere near her.

Tyson was also completely different. He wasn't just angry, he was seething, furious, even. He didn't shrink away from Kate, instead he continued forwards and faced her straight on. There were twin flashes of light and two Pokemon burst from the pokeballs that he dropped.

I recognized one as the lithe, agile, fossil Pokemon, Hunter the Aerodactyl. He prowled forwards on all fours, showing his long, serrated teeth and glaring at Kate and her two Pokemon, as if daring them to attack his trainer. It was like he was saying "Go on, try it. See what happens."

I had never seen the other Pokemon before, but knew its species. It was a gigantic, hulking, amphibious, cobalt blue monster. Its wide, muscular arms and thick fingered open palms looked like they could shatter boulders. It had orange gills on its face and a dark crest above each bright, orange eye. Its tail resembled the crests on its head, just bigger, bearing a resemblance to a fan. The Swampert stalked forwards, looking like it wanted to kill both Kate and her Pokemon.

"What do you think you're playing at?" Tyson shouted at her.

"What are you talking about?" Kate demanded. I noticed a couple of trainers helping Sean our of the water at that time.

"You attempted to use giga impact in a second badge battle," Tyson elaborated. His voice had gotten quieter, but angrier at the same time. Kate flinched a little at his words, presumably remembering the death of her Linoone.

"I wasn't thinking," she said feebly.

"That's your excuse?" Tyson demanded.

"So what if she used giga impact? What's going on?" I shouted, hoping for answers.

"About ten years ago, a trainer was killed by a hyper beam attack in a Gym battle. The trainer was battling for their fifth badge. After that, the League decided that those kind of moves were too dangerous and banned them from Gym battles. Occasionally, a Gym Leader will use it against a six or seven badge trainer because they know how to deal with those kind of attacks, but against a one badge trainer? A Pokemon could have been killed because of her," Tyson explained.

Tyson then gave Kate a look of pure hatred. That's the only way I can describe it. I got the impression that this was something he felt very strongly about. Why he felt that way, I had no idea.

"A Pokemon _was _killed because of her," Tyson commented nastily.

"You can't just come in here," Sean growled at Tyson. "And start hurling abuse at Kate. It's illegal and if you don't get out right now, the League might just find out about this," he went on.

"Do that and the League's going to find out about what Kate did. Considering her less than perfect record already, do you think she'll get to keep her job as Leader?" Tyson asked him, a smug smile crossing his face. Sean just glowered at him. "I thought not," Tyson said, turning back to Kate. As he did so, Sean dropped a pokeball and released a mountain of crocodilian muscles and teeth. It was a Feraligatr.

After that, all hell broke lose. The Feraligatr shot a huge jet of water at Tyson, but it hit what seemed like an invisible wall. I saw Zener with his hands outstretched, eyes glowing. That explained the invisible wall. Zener blinked out of existence, reappeared about six feet from the Feraligatr and launched a barrage of thunder punches at the reptile.

The next thing I knew, Hunter and the Pidgeot were flying above the pool, blood and feathers flying everywhere. The Pidgeot was trying to keep up with Hunter's speed but simply couldn't. Hunter's skin was impervious to the Pidgeot's attacks and he was armed with better weapons - namely his serrated teeth, giant talons and spiked tail.

The Swampert and Empoleon were having it out in close quarters. The Empoleon was making wide, powerful slashes with it's metal edged flippers. The slashes were inaccurate but when they did hit, they were devastating. Tyson's Swampert was retaliating with wild swings of its gigantic arms. The blows were just as inaccurate as the Empoleon's slashes, but were just as devastating. Unfortunately, the Empoleon seemed to be landing more hits than the Swampert.

I noticed Sean and Tyson were throwing punches again, and it looked like Sean was gaining the upper hand. Tyson was sliding about the wet tiles while taking punch after punch from Sean, who was used to moving about on the tiles and was ducking and weaving to evade Tyson's wild punches. Just as it looked like Tyson had no chance, he dived at Sean and took him to the ground. A ground fight was a completely different situation, Tyson was stronger, heavier and he looked like he knew what he was doing.

I just kind of stood there, staring, not sure what to do, as did all of the other Gym trainers. It wasn't a situation I had ever been in before, and I doubted that any of the other trainers had been in a situation like it either. It was also a scary situation. No one really wanted to get between an alligator, a psychic, a dinosaur, a giant bird, an amphibian monster and a two hundred pound penguin.

I noticed that the Pidgeot was lying on the ground, covered in blood. I was relieved to see that it was still breathing. Hunter was now busy fighting Kate's Empoleon. Tyson's Swampert was covered in blood and leaning against the wall, breathing heavily. Hunter was using his talons to more or less duel with the Empoleon, which was retaliating with its razor edged wings.

Zener was now holding back a struggling Feraligatr, which was not an easy feat, considering its incredible strength. I could see that Zener was sweating with the effort and his eyes were closed in concentration. The strain became too much, however, and the Feraligatr overcame the psychic forces. It rushed forwards and used its long claws to slash Zener across the chest. Zener didn't get back up.

At the same time, Hunter gaining the upper hand in his fight against the Empoleon and was taking rapid slashes at its face and chest. The penguin collapsed on the ground, bleeding and exhausted. Hunter then turned to the giant alligator. Sean - who had stopped fighting with Tyson - saw this and returned his Feraligatr, since he had seen what Hunter had done to the Pidgeot and Empoleon.

It was then that I realized how much everyone had been hurt. Kate was unconscious, Sean and Tyson had beaten each other to a pulp, Kate's Pokemon looked like they seriously needed medical attention and Tyson's - with the exception of Hunter, who was completely unscathed - weren't looking too great either.

"Let's go," Tyson said simply, striding towards me.

* * *

"What the hell was that?" I demanded once we were back in Ecruteak. Zener was unconscious but Tyson had another of his teleporting Pokemon take us back.

"She couldn't just go around using moves like that! One of your Pokemon could have been killed!" Tyson shouted.

"But they weren't! Me and my Pokemon were fine!" I countered.

"I lost a Pokemon to a trainer who used blast burn. Those kind of moves shouldn't exist. They're lethal. She knows it's illegal and she knows it's dangerous, she shouldn't have done it," Tyson said quietly.

"You didn't have to go and maim her Pokemon just to prove a point," I growled, disgusted that he done such a thing. What I was even more disgusted at was his disregard for the safety of his Pokemon. Hunter was the only Pokemon of his who had fought and not been badly injured and Tyson didn't seem to care about the other two.

"Do you know what it's like to lose a Pokemon?" Tyson asked quietly, not expecting for a second that I had.

"Yeah, I do, actually. In fact, I've experienced it twice," I told him, taking him by surprise. He opened his mouth to say something but couldn't seem to think of anything appropriate to say. "And now Kate might lose another two Pokemon, thanks to you," I growled.

"Listen, it wasn't -" Tyson started feebly, but I cut him off.

"Do you know what's worse? You deliberately put your Pokemon in danger. That wasn't a battle there, that was an actual fight. There were no rules there, your Pokemon could have died, two of them are badly injured and you don't seem to give a fuck," I practically spat at him.

"In fact, I'm no expert, but I imagine you could get your license and your Pokemon taken off of you for pulling shit like that," I said, realizing what he had just so stupidly risked. "What happens to your Pokemon in that case? Are they released? Given away? Killed?" I shouted at him. He didn't answer and just shook his head. I could guess what would happen.

"It got out of hand. I wasn't intending to start a fight," Tyson mumbled, clearly ashamed of himself. It was bizarre for me, the younger one, the beginner, to be making Tyson feel ashamed.

"Why did you bother to release any of your Pokemon in the first place?"

"I-I...Kate did it first..." He murmured.

"She started it? Is that your excuse? You justify maiming and maybe killing her Pokemon by telling me that she started it? That's pathetic," I said, a malice in my voice that was quite uncharacteristic of me. I didn't like it.

"You're pathetic," I told him, turning my back on my former idol.


	21. Some More Training

Shedding Skins

Chapter Twenty One

Some More Training

* * *

I learned many things from that experience. It taught me what could happen when you lost your temper. I had always known that it wasn't good, I just hadn't seen how bad it could turn out until then.

I also learned that there were more important things than having badges and being a good trainer. I had always known that as well, but it was only those words I had known. I had never thought about the meaning of them until then.

Most of all, though, I learned how little I truly knew about anyone. Kate, Tyson and Sean had all shown completely different sides during the fight. I was most surprised about Sean, though. He had never seemed violent - although I didn't know him very well - and he had actually started the fight. It really showed me what a good person could do in a bad situation.

Tyson's speech about how tough Reece was had motivated me to train harder in Goldenrod, my loss to Kate had motivated me to train harder in Violet City, but the fight at the Gym really made me train. I had never trained like it before. In fact, I had never really trained hard - I had repeated commands to my Pokemon until they learned them and then just left them to pick a few fights on their own.

"Supersonic!" I yelled at Ares, who was struggling to take out a particularly large and aggressive Tauros. He buzzed his wings rapidly and produced a sound somewhere between supersonic and sonicboom. It didn't really have any effect. Ares knew the command, he just wasn't very good at actually using the attack.

"Come on! You can do it! Supersonic!" I encouraged him. He gave another attempt, which yielded better - although still not satisfactory - results. Unfortunately, I had attracted the Tauros' attention with my encouragement.

The bull gave a monstrous bellow and started charging at me, head down, horns pointing straight at me. My knife was out before I even knew what I was doing. My knife had become my favorite tool while training. I could use it to defend myself, cut branches for firewood, cut through particularly tall patches of grass and a hundred other things. It had been my best friend recently.

I jumped to the side, avoiding the bull's horns by inches. I tried to stab it after I jumped to the side but it was already out of my reach by the time I raised my knife. It turned around and prepared to charge again but was distracted by a high pitched buzzing noise. This wasn't a painful buzzing like sonicboom, it was more like an irritating one. I had the sense to cover my ears while this was happening.

The Tauros did not have hands with which to cover its ears, and even if it did, I'm doubtful it would have thought of that. The supersonic caused it to become confused. Very confused. I had experienced the sensation once before, when I forgot to cover my ears when Ares used the attack. My vision went haywire. One second the route around was spinning, the next it was on its side. I tried to walk right and found myself walking left, into a tree. It was unpleasant.

The Tauros charged not at me, but at a cluster of trees close by. It hit its head on the trunk of one and collapsed onto its side. I figured that it wouldn't be getting back up anytime soon. That didn't really bother me.

I had started actually living in route thirty-eight after the fight at the Gym. I had also started the most intense training spell I had ever experienced. I wasn't sure how long I had been living out in the wilderness but it felt like a couple of weeks. Time wasn't something I was concerned with, though. I was concerned with training and spending time with my Pokemon.

I grew a lot closer to my Pokemon during that time. I really didn't mind bugs at all now, thanks to the constant presence of Ares, who had taken to perching on my shoulder whenever he was not in flight. Having his wings burned off didn't seem to have made any kind of difference to him. He was determined when it came to training, always looking for opponents, especially bigger, stronger opponents that could challenge him.

I found I grew a lot closer to Cerletti since we could talk to each other. She was indifferent to training. She didn't really like it, but nor did she dislike it. I asked her if she actually wanted to train or not on several occasions but she basically told me that she would just go with the flow.

I grew very close to Naja. He understood most things I said. Even though I couldn't understand what he was saying, I could get an idea of what he was thinking simply from observing him. Tiny flickers of his tongue, twitches of his tail, expanding of his hood, all these little bits of body language meant different things. I got to learn a lot of the signs.

Naja acted indifferent but I knew he cared about all of us. More than once I would wake up at night to find him watching for any potential threats. Of course, if I looked at him, he would pretend he was looking at something else, like a nearby Rattata that would make a good meal.

I didn't hear from Forrest or Marnie during my time training, which disappointed me somewhat, but I pushed it out of my mind. The thought of meeting up with Forrest again after I got my third badge was great. It would be good to have a travelling companion, especially one who I got on so well with.

I also neglected to do all those things I was supposed to do in Ecruteak. I didn't check out the Gym, visit my parents or do anything else I had promised myself I would, although I resolved to do those things once I finished my spell of training.

My evil egg was moving about inside more often, although it wasn't making noises yet. I had read somewhere that when they're close to hatching, most Pokemon will start making noises inside the egg. I was desperate for it to start making noises, because I might be able to tell from those what species it was.

I didn't battle any other trainers during that time, I just let my Pokemon battle the inhabitants of route thirty-eight. More than once, a trainer would come up and challenge me but my response was the same every time; "Piss off."

Our training also paid off. Naja had learned crunch and acid spray, which were really just more effective versions of bite and acid, respectively. He was becoming increasingly defensive when battling, focusing more on avoiding injury and slowly wearing his opponents down. He was still the strongest on the team, but not by very much anymore.

Cerletti had learned heal pulse, which would be exceedingly useful in double battles. Her aim was getting better with her ranged attacks, and almost always hit her target. I also noticed that she had started growing taller again. Her hair seemed to getting shorter and so did her horns. Her skirt thing on the other hand was slowly getting longer.

Ares had learned supersonic, detect, uproar and pursuit. He was improving at a really rapid rate and I figured that he would soon be the strongest on my team. He was consistently winning all of his battles and he was maneuvering much better while in the air as well.

"Guys," I said to my team, getting their attention. It was late at night and the temperature had dropped considerably, but I had gotten used to the cold over our spell of training. My Pokemon all turned around when I spoke.

"Time to go to sleep," I told them, pulling my sleeping bag out of my rucksack and climbing into it. Ares perched himself on a branch of the tree that we were sheltering under, Cerletti pulled my jacket over her like a blanket and Naja coiled his body up and lay his head on the ground. "Goodnight."

* * *

I returned to civilization the next day. Turned out that I had been gone for a whole month. I booked a room at the Pokemon Center and immediately jumped in for a shower, since I was in desperate need of one. The hot water running down my back was the best feeling I had experienced in a long time. I must have stood under the water for at least an hour.

While in the shower, I caught sight of myself in the bathroom mirror and immediately noticed how much I had changed. I had always liked sports and had been in decent shape, but I was in even better shape since I had started training. I also noticed that my body was covered in cuts, scrapes and bruises. I much preferred the way I looked.

When I finally stepped out of the shower, I got dressed and made my way to the nearest clothes store. I bought new jeans, a plain black t-shirt and a grey hoodie, changed straight into them and stuffed my old, ruined clothes in the nearest bin. Following that, I went to the nearest barbers to get my hair cut. It had been quite a while since I had got it cut and it had gotten more than a little too long during our training spree.

I started walking, somewhat nervous about what would happen. I made sure I was looking smart and that I was clean. The further I walked, the more nervous I got, and that nervousness soon turned to dread. Finally I arrived at my house. I felt like my heart was in my throat and would rather not be there, but if I didn't visit my parents, I would never hear the end of it from them.

My dad answered the door moments after I knocked. He was dressed in a pale blue shirt with the top two buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up, revealing his bear-like arms, a pair of black jeans and a pair of work boots. He had a coating of stubble on his face and his dark hair was messy, as usual.

"Wha...?" He groaned. It looked like he had just gotten out of bed.

"Hey," I greeted him. I had lived in this house for all of my life before I left to train, but it seemed so strange to be here now. It was like the house belonged to my parents, not to the three of us.

"Son?" My dad asked, a smile starting to spread across his face. Before I could say anything else, I was taken into a crushing bear hug and more or less lifted into the house.

"Karen!" My dad bellowed. "Linus is back!" Barely a second later, my mom came hurtling down the stairs, blonde hair flying behind her and nearly tripping and falling several times. After being crushed in several more bear hugs by both parents, they finally decided that it would be best to go into the living room and sit down.

"Why you back, son?" Dad asked in his rather loud, gruff voice.

"I'm challenging Lee for my third badge," I replied, feeling more proud than ever of my two badges.

"What Gyms have you beaten already?" My mom asked, in her quiet, polite voice.

"I beat Zach from Goldenrod and then Kate in Violet City," I told them, beaming with pride.

"What Pokemon you got?" My dad asked eagerly. He had wanted to be a trainer when he was younger but his family couldn't afford it. I would have been in the same boat had it not been for the League's starter system. I grinned and dropped my three pokeballs on the ground releasing my team.

A somewhat disappointed look crossed my dad's face when he saw Cerletti. My mom, on the other hand, let out a gasp and stared adoringly at her. Then she caught sight of Ares and scuttled away from him, the blood draining from her face. I didn't think my mom would particularly like bugs. My dad was quite neutral towards Ares; he didn't seem to approve or disapprove of him.

Naja was the main focus of attention, though. A look of intense pride crossed my dad's face, and I knew he was proud of me for catching such a tough looking Pokemon. My mom stared at him with a different, although just as positive look. It was like she was entranced and I could tell that she thought he was beautiful or majestic or something like that.

"That," my dad said, pointing a thick finger at Naja. "Is one fine Pokemon."

"But Linus," my mom said, a look of concern crossing her face. "What was your starter Pokemon?" My stomach twisted itself into a tight knot at the question.

"It was a Chikorita. It was killed by a wild Ariados on my first day of training," I answered bluntly. My mom looked horrified. My dad, for some reason, looked proud.

"And after that, you didn't quit training? You didn't even come back home?" I shook my head. "That's my boy," he said approvingly.

"I'm sorry to hear -" My mom started but she was cut off by a knock at the door. My parents shared a knowing smile.

"What?" I asked, wondering who it was at the door.

"I'll get it," my mom said, jumping up and rushing to the door.

"Linus!" I heard somebody shout. I knew the voice instantly.

"Adam?" I shouted, smiling already. Sure enough, a tall figure with red-brown hair that covered one eye stepped into the room. Adam was my best friend. I had tried to convince him to become a trainer as well, then the two of us could travel together, but he had his heart set on researching Pokemon. He was capable of doing it too - he was the single most intelligent person I had ever known. In fact, he could tell me at least a dozen facts about every Pokemon species in existence.

"Having fun training?" He asked, settling down into a chair and making himself at home.

"Not particularly," I replied, laughing. "Having fun at school?"

"Not particularly," he responded, a stupid grin spreading across his face. I must have sat there for hours, talking to Adam about anything and everything. My parents soon retreated upstairs, leaving just me and Adam to have a laugh.

"Oh! Oh! Remember that one time when Jamie was showing off with his back flips and front flips and all that, and he landed on that little kid?" The two of us roared with laughter.

"Ah...Man, that was class," I said, still laughing a little. Jamie was a show off, gymnast friend of ours who was always tumbling and flipping everywhere. Landing on a small child had really brought him down a peg or two.

"It was," Adam agreed, taking a drink of water.

"First year maths!" I shouted, remembering that one class. Adam and I were in the top class for maths, but we were both naturally talented at it and found it easy. We had sat next to each other and it was the best class I could remember.

"Yeah!" He shouted, also remembering.

"Remember when you were swinging on your seat and the legs broke?" The two of us broke into raucous laughter again.

"And when you broke the door of the cupboard! You blamed it on Stephen Cassidy and the teacher believed you!" Once more, laughter filled the room. I had been kind of a douche back then.

"Have your parents got any booze in the house?" He asked rather suddenly.

"Probably," I grinned, seeing where this was going. Despite being insanely smart, Adam had never been a nerd or a geek. He had always been loud, impulsive and a bit of a rebel. In short, he was a lot of fun and he was a great laugh.

We found some Vodka in my dad's stash - which he thought I didn't know about. The only thing I remember was a whole lot of laughing that night and a monster of a hangover the next morning.


	22. A Real Gym

Shedding Skins

Chapter Twenty Two

A Real Gym

* * *

"Morning, guys," I yawned. It was so nice to wake up in a bed instead of under a tree. It had been two days since I had visited my parents and got drunk with Adam. I had just spent all of the previous day recovering from my hangover.

I had a quick shower, got dressed, returned my team to their pokeballs and headed out the door. I knew exactly where I was going. I walked outside, into the cool morning air and smiled. Things were looking pretty good. I decided to change my plans, and headed to a diner for breakfast.

The place was small and seemed old, but it was clean, it was cheap and the food was good. I ordered bacon and eggs and started wolfing them down ravenously. While living in route thirty-eight, we had mostly been cooking and eating Spearow and Pidgey that Naja brought back from god knows where. Having real food again was nice.

I heard a loud bleep coming from my phone and knew I had a message. I figured it was from Forrest or Marnie. I opened the message and sure enough, it was from Marnie.

_Better watch out. I got my second badge and I'm already in Goldenrod. I might even get my eighth badge before you do._

I laughed a little at that. She seemed really determined to get eight badges, and I would not have been surprised if she did get her last badge before I did. I started typing a reply of my own.

_I don't think so. I'm getting my third badge today, and Cerletti's going to evolve soon. Beat that._

Of course, they were lies but I couldn't actually admit that I thought she was a better trainer. Just after that, I received another message.

_I got my third badge yesterday. On my way to Olivine just now. Probably be there today or tomorrow._

It was not a quick reply from Marnie. It was from Forrest. I quickly typed up a short reply.

_I'm getting my third badge today. I'll probably arrive at Olivine about the same time as you. See you then._

I finished my breakfast and walked towards my original destination - Ecruteak City's Gym. It was something that I had grown up with. It looked identical to the other two Gyms I had been two, except a little smaller. It had the same double doors, the same neon sign, the same plain, rectangular building design, but it just seemed so much more intimidating. I took a deep breath, steeled myself and strode through the heavy double doors.

It was a Gym. Not just a Pokemon Gym, but a real Gym. The place was full of scaffolding, with half a dozen punching bags scattered randomly throughout the room, hanging from the bars. There were also weights machines scattered about the place, and mats as well, on which people appeared to be wrestling. There was a white rectangle painted in the center of the room, free of any punching bags, mats or machines. I assumed that was where battles took place.

The place was like Zach's Gym in a way - it made me want to battle. In fact, it made me want to fight, not using my Pokemon, but using my fists. The place smelled of sweat and something else, although I couldn't tell what the something else was. The lights were quite dim and there was a lot of noise. People were grunting and yelling, the sounds of fists hitting punching bags and backs hitting mats could be heard, as well as the noises of the Pokemon in the Gym.

"You alright?" I heard someone say. I turned around and saw a guy in his early twenties striding towards me. I recognized him as Lee, the Gym Leader. He had shoulder length black hair and was dressed in dark blue karate gear with the sleeves torn off. His arms looked like they could have been carved from stone.

"You've just been standing there for about five minutes, staring," he told me, laughing a little. I was surprised. I couldn't have been standing there for that long.

"What's that smell?" I asked. It seemed like a stupid thing to ask when I could have said so many other appropriate things, but the smell was starting to overpower me and it was all I could think about. Lee let out a laugh.

"Ground Bayleef buds," he told me. That made me remember my old Chikorita. "Bayleef shed them naturally, we pick them up after them, grind them and use them in the Gym," he went on. "The smell's what's making you want to fight," he told me. I couldn't really think of anything to say, all I wanted to do was fight.

"A few of the Gym trainers have Bayleef, which is where we get the buds from. In fact, I have a Bayleef myself," he informed me. I wanted to fight.

"I suppose you want to battle rather than listen to me talk, then?" He said, noticing my expression, giving an amused chuckle. "It's fine. The smell has that effect on people," he finished.

"So can we battle?" I asked eagerly.

"Not right now. The scent's really overpowering at first. If we were to battle right now, you wouldn't be able to think straight," he explained. This annoyed me. I wanted to fight.

"So now what, then?"

"Go and use the Gym's equipment for a while, until the effects of the scent wear off a bit, then we'll battle," he replied, walking away. I just stood there and did nothing for a while. I was finding it hard to think about anything other than fighting.

Eventually, I spotted a punching bag that nobody was using and walked over to it. I punched it in the middle, as hard as I could. I enjoyed hitting it.I punched it again and again, as hard and as fast I possibly could. I didn't remember being that fast or strong before, not that I was complaining. I could hardly hear the sound of my fists hitting the leather because of all the noises in the Gym.

"You might want to use the gloves," one of the Gym trainers called to me as he walked past, gesturing to the floor. Sure enough, a pair of black boxing gloves were lying on the floor, under the punching bag. I put them on and beat the living daylights out of the punching bag for a while longer. My head was a little clearer by the end of it.

I got lost in the endless possibilities that the Gym offered. One of the Gym trainers taught me how to do some Judo throws when I had gotten tired of the punching bag. I tried weight lifting for a while, which was difficult but enjoyable. None of these activities had ever seemed particularly appealing to me before, but I was suddenly enjoying them. I attributed it to the ground Bayleef buds.

"Ready to battle yet?" I heard Lee say from behind me. I turned around and nodded. My head had cleared a lot and I could think straight again - although I was still in the mood for battling and fighting.

"So, how many Pokemon are you using?" He asked.

"Three," I replied, digging my trainer's license out of my pocket and handing it to him. As usual, he examined the back of it then returned it to me.

"Right then. You go to that side," Lee told me, pointing to one side of the painted rectangle in the middle of the room and then walking away. When we were standing facing each other, Lee took out a great ball and threw it. I released Cerletti at the same time. I had a hunch that he would use a fighting Pokemon.

A rather tall, lean, human like Pokemon burst from the pokeball that lee dropped. It was tan in coloration, with some kind of strange crest on its head, shoulders that resembled shoulder pads, hands that resembled boxing gloves, feet that resembled shoes and a body that resembled some kind of kilt thing. I grinned to myself. My hunch had been right.

"Mach punch," Lee barked to his Hitmonchan. This surprised me. When he was talking to me earlier, Lee had been calm and relaxed, but now he seemed aggressive.

"Shadow ball," I said to Cerletti. The boxer moved so quickly that he was little more than a blur, then smashed his fist into Cerletti's jaw, sending her flying back. Had she been knocked back another inch, she would have been out of bounds and I would've been forced to return her. I thought that it had knocked her out, but she quite suddenly launched a shadow ball at the Hitmonchan and got to her feet again.

The Hitmonchan was knocked down by the attack but jumped back up again, looking angry. Lee opened his mouth to give it a command but it rushed forwards before he spoke. I didn't react fast enough to give Cerletti a command, but she used confusion to throw him back anyway.

"Comet punch," Lee ordered his Hitmonchan, a look of intense concentration on his face. The Hitmonchan started rushing forwards again.

"Magical leaf," I said to Cerletti, who thrust her hands out in front of her and sent a cloud of multicolored, spinning, razor sharp, crescent shaped leaves at the fighter. He jumped to the side and they sailed harmlessly past him. He continued running towards Cerletti, completely unaware that the magical leaves had turned around and were now pursuing him.

"Confusion!" I shouted to Cerletti, who closed her eyes, thrust her hands out in front of her and sent the fighter flying backwards. He flew through the cloud of sharp edged magical leaves, getting cut in dozens of places as he did so. The Hitmonchan landed on the ground and didn't move for a handful of seconds. When it finally did move, it struggled to its feet and then promptly collapsed.

"Good work," Lee praised his barely conscious fighter. He then dropped another pokeball and released his second Pokemon. My first thought was that it was Zener, but then I realized that it was shorter, with a thin, limp mustache, a bushy tail, a star on its forehead and only one spoon. I recognized it as a Kadabra.

"Psybeam," Lee commanded. I noticed that Lee had given both of his Pokemon a command as soon as they had been released and made to note to watch for that in future.

"Dodge it!" I shouted to Cerletti. The Kadabra closed its eyes, raised its spoon and then fired a multicolored beam of light from ht star on its forehead. Unfortunately, Cerletti wasn't fast enough to dodge the attack. It struck her in the chest and she staggered backwards, coming dangerously close to the painted line.

"Energy ball!" Lee shouted.

"Shadow ball!" I also shouted. The Kadabra formed a pale green, transparent ball in its free hand while Cerletti formed a deep black ball of shadows in both of her hands. As soon as the attacks were ready, the two Pokemon hurled their projectiles at each other. The two met half way between and produced a miniature explosion of black shadows and green light.

"Confusion!" Lee called to his psychic, who threw Cerletti over the boundaries with the attack.

"Dammit," I muttered. "You did good," I told Cerletti, returning her to her Pokeball. I considered for a moment before dropping a pokeball and releasing Naja. I was perfectly aware that he was at a type disadvantage, although I figured that he could take out the Kadabra quickly - and what's unconscious can't hurt you, so I ignored the type disadvantage.

"Acid spray!" I said to Naja, taking after Lee and using a move as soon as I released my Pokemon. Thankfully, Lee wasn't really expecting it and didn't have time to tell his Kadabra to protect itself. Naja opened his mouth and fired a prolonged spray of purple liquid at the psychic and soaked it. The Kadabra let out a cry of pain and frantically tried to get the acid from its skin.

"Confusion," Lee told his Kadabra, looking a little worried. Despite being covered in acid, his Pokemon obeyed. It used confusion to pick up Naja and then proceeded to hurl him out of bounds.

"Shit," I growled. I returned Naja and released Ares from his ultra ball. Lee returned his acid covered Kadabra and dropped his last Pokeball also. It was one on one.

A primarily dark brown, humanoid Pokemon, somewhat reminiscent of a goblin, burst out of the ball and glared at me. It had a long, pointed nose and a leaf on its head. Its light brown thighs gave the appearance of pants and it had light brown markings on its face which resembled a mask. The thing reminded me of a ninja.

"Faint attack," Lee said to the ninja goblin.

"Detect," I shouted to Ares. The Nuzleaf jumped at Ares, disappeared, reappeared above him and aimed a kick at his head. Ares, however, seemed to sense this and darted out of the way. The Nuzleaf's foot missed him by inches.

"Razor leaf!" Lee shouted. The Nuzleaf thrust its hands forward and launched dozens of razor edged leaves Ares, who zoomed to his left and evaded the attack.

"Silver wind!" I called to Ares. I knew that Nuzleaf were doubly weak to bug type moves and planned to exploit this. Ares started beating his wings rapidly and whipped up a rather strong wind. A dozen white crescent shapes flew from Ares' wings and were blown into the Nuzleaf by the wind that he had created. They cut into the Nuzleaf and fell almost immediately.

"Great job," Lee commended me, returning his fallen Nuzleaf and going back his relaxed personality, as opposed to his aggressive battling personality. As usual, he handed me prize money, a TM and a badge. The badge was white and in the shape of some form of skull, with a black L on the forehead.

"Do Gym Leaders base their badge designs on one of their Pokemon?" I asked Lee, noting how Kate's looked like her Empoleon's face.

"Yeah, usually our starter, but not always. Mine's based on my Marowak, which is my starter," he explained.

"Oh, right. One more question; could you tell me what move this TM has?" I asked, still not knowing what moves my other two TMs contained.

"Energy ball. It's written in small print on the disc, you know," he informed me. I wanted to kick myself. I remembered reading "Headbutt" on the TM that I taught to my Chikorita. I couldn't believe that I had forgotten such a simple thing.

"Thanks," I replied.

"Your TM case also has a function that tells you what move it is," he added. I hadn't known that. I did have a TM case, though, I just didn't use it.

"Well, thanks again," I shouted back to Lee as I walked out of the Gym, third badge safely in my pocket.


	23. Knife

Shedding Skins

Chapter Twenty Three

Knife

* * *

The first thing I did when I got back to my room at the Center, was check the moves that my other two TMs contained. It turned out that Kate had given me a TM for shadow ball and Zach had given me one for brick break. Two relatively useful moves.

I decided that it was about time I found somewhere to keep my badges, other than my pocket. I ended up deciding to pin them to the right thigh of my jeans. It was so much easier than constantly checking to make sure they hadn't fallen out of my pocket.

I left Ecruteak straight after that and headed out into route thirty-eight. That place had been my home for a whole month, and I knew it well. Had I not known the place so well, it would probably have taken me days to work my way around all the ledges, high fences and stretches of trees. It took me only hours to do so.

Travelling to Olivine wasn't bad. Naja could repel most wild Pokemon simply by being there and I was familiar with the terrain. I made conversation with Cerletti while we traveled and also directed Ares whenever he chose to pick a fight with a wild Pokemon.

"Silver wind!" I shouted to him when he was fighting a particularly tough Raticate. Ares did not use silver wind. Instead, his eyes started glowing and chunks of rock suddenly surrounded him. "What the..." I muttered to myself. The rocks then all flew at the Raticate, knocking it out. After the battle, Ares was more energetic than usual and I noticed that he was moving faster than usual.

Ares was also looking slightly bigger. I couldn't help noticing that he was developing tiny fangs as well. I deduced that the new move he had learned was ancientpower and that he was soon going to evolve into Yanmega. I found myself wanting to catch another Pokemon, yet again. I had three Pokemon, one that was fully evolved and two that were soon to be fully evolved. I wanted another one to raise.

There still weren't any Pokemon that particularly appealed to me in the area, so I figured that I would just have to wait for my evil egg to hatch. I wasn't too keen on that. I had been building the evil Pokemon up in my mind, and whenever I thought about, I managed to convince myself that it was a horribly powerful Pokemon that would despise me.

"Hey, you," I heard someone shout. I turned around and saw a trainer about my age striding towards me. He was taller than me, but also thinner. He had short, black hair, small glasses and an intelligent looking face. In fact, everything about this trainer told me that he was intelligent - he just had an air of intelligence about him.

"What?" I said, thinking to myself that if this was yet another trainer wanting to battle me, then I might actually try to kill him.

"I want to battle you," he said, reaching for a pokeball. I gave a deep sigh. I had returned my Pokemon just minutes previous because Naja, Cerletti and Ares were tired of slithering, walking and flying, respectively.

"I want doesn't get," I replied.

"Don't get clever, just battle me," he said, sounding annoyed.

"How about no?" I said, turning around and continuing to walk.

"You can't refuse a battle!" He shouted, walking after me.

"I think you'll find that I just did," I shot back.

"Hey, listen -" He practically growled but I cut him off.

"No, you listen. I'm not going to battle you," I said, a tone of finality in my voice. I turned my back on him and kept walking.

"I won't take no for an answer," he told me, clamping a long fingered hand down on my shoulder. I turned around and wrenched my shoulder out of his grip before grabbing him by the collar and ramming his back up against a tree.

"Don't touch me," I growled up at him. Although he was taller than me, he looked like some kind of skeleton. I was sure I could take him in a fight.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll let go," he hissed at me. I immediately had a feeling that this guy was not to be fucked with. Sure, he looked frail, but I got the impression that he would make me regret later if I pissed him off. Regardless, he had put me in a bad mood and I was thinking with the impulsive part of my brain, not the rational part.

"Really?" I shouted, managing to lift him a few inches off the ground. I had no idea I had become that strong. I could see fear in this trainer's eyes, but I could see something else in them too. It was like hate, but stronger.

I dropped him and took a few steps back before turning my back on him and starting to walk again. I wasn't stupid, though, I was expecting him to attack me from behind. As soon as I heard him approach me, I turned back around to face him and punched. My fist hit his jaw and knocked him back a few steps. Before I knew what I was doing, my knife was out and I was ready to stab him.

When he had stopped seeing stars, he caught sight of the knife and his face drained of all color. It was then that I realized what I had actually done. I had pulled a knife on someone. Not in self defense, not because my life was on the line, but just because I had gotten too used to using it. I felt the color drain from my face as well.

I started to run. I wasn't even sure if I was running in the direction of Olivine anymore, I just wanted to get away from that trainer that I had been seconds from stabbing. I felt disgusted with myself. The guy was an arrogant dick but I was ready to stab him. Had I done so, I could have killed him. I may have been seconds from becoming a murderer.

I felt a sudden surge sympathy for Tyson. What I had done was hardly any different from what he had done. His weapons were his Pokemon, not a knife, and he had actually used them to do damage, but I could have been in the same boat had things went a little differently. I nearly killed someone. I was nearly a murderer. I nearly ended another human being's life. I could not get over that.

* * *

"H-Hey," I said to the woman at the counter. I was still shaken from the incident with the intelligent looking trainer. I knew the one person I could talk to about this.

"Can I help you?" She asked curtly.

"Yes. I need a Pokemon translator," I replied. She looked surprised.

"D'you know how much those cost, son?" I felt a little insulted.

"Would I be asking for one if I didn't?" I retorted.

"Fine. This is the only one we have," she told, handing me a plastic box that contained a translator. It was indeed expensive but I was still rich from the money that Tyson had left me in Goldenrod and the money I had won in Violet.

I walked to the Olivine Pokemon Center, hood pulled low over my eyes to try to protect myself from the biting cold of the night air. Thankfully, they had one free room left.

I dumped my bag on the floor, locked the door behind me and threw Naja's Pokeball. He looked like he had just woken up. I tore open the box for the translator and took out two items. One was a collar like device and the other was a headset. After making sure all the settings were correct, I put the headset on.

"I know you're going to want to kill me, but I need you to put this collar on," I told Naja. He gave me a fierce glare that quite clearly said "If you bring that object near me, I will bite your hand off." Just for good measure, he then let out a hiss.

"I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important," I told him. This seemed to calm him down and he permitted me to put the collar on him.

"Can you hear what I'm saying?"

_"I've always been able to hear what you are saying, and the vast majority of the time, I also understood it, even without this ridiculous collar," _A voice came from the headset and spoke into my ear.

"Doesn't surprise me," I replied honestly. To my surprise, hissing noises came from Naja's translation collar. I figured it was English translated into Arbok.

_"So, what trivial matter is it that you so desperately wish to speak to me about, now that you understand what I say?" _The voice came from my headset again. I thought about how bizarre it was to be speaking to my Pokemon. The voice from the headset sounded superior and condescending. I wasn't really surprised.

"I pulled a knife on someone," I admitted to him, letting out a great sigh.

_"Did you kill the human?"_

"No."

_"Stab them?"_

"No."

_"Slash them?"_

"No."

_"Harm them in any way, shape or form?"_

"No."

_"Then you did nothing wrong," _Naja told me bluntly. I did not agree with this.

"But I could have hurt him! I could have killed him!" I cried.

_"You are an idiot," _he said to me. Despite the fact that he was insulting me, it made me feel better. The fact that he wasn't making a big deal about it made everything seem normal.

"You're right," I chuckled. I was still disgusted with myself but what Naja said had said made sense. I released the other two, lay down in my bed and turned the T.V on, trying to relax.

"- Have received reports of a riot in Blackthorn City. This riot is believed to be in response to the new laws regarding Pokemon training that the government has recently passed," the news reader recited. That was the last thing I had expected. I briefly wondered if it had anything to do with the Goldenrod riot. A live video of Blackthorn then came on.

There was a huge crowd in front of the Blackthorn Gym, the side closest to the Gym were dressed in regular clothes, with pokeballs clutched in their hands, while the much larger part of the crowd were clad in black and blue riot gear. The police were relentlessly striking whatever was closest to them but it was a one sided fight and they weren't winning.

I saw a police officer slam his nightstick into the solid, steel back of an Aggron. The monster swung its tail into his side and I knew that the cop's ribs were broken. I witnessed a Scyther swing its bladed arm down onto a police officer's arm, severing it below the elbow. An Electivire grabbed a cop by the head and sent electricity through it. The cop convulsed a few times before he collapsed, dead.

Although these atrocities were bad, the one thing that really struck a nerve with me was something else. It was a group of four police officers, all huddled around a Lopunny and beating it senseless, both with strikes from their batons and also with kicks. I saw its trainer, a boy that couldn't have been much older than me, drag one of the police officers away from his Pokemon. Two more cops came out of seemingly nowhere and started kicking seven shades of shit out of him as well.

It occurred to me that if I had chose to tackle the Gyms in a different order, that could have been Naja and I instead of the Lopunny and its trainer. Although, I did figure that Naja would put up much more of a fight, probably involving a lot of blood and acid. As I was thinking this, somebody knocked on my door.

"Shh," I whispered to my team. I quickly withdrew my knife. I didn't care that I had nearly knifed someone earlier anymore, I had a gut feeling that I would need to use the knife.

"Fucking hell, open the door!" The stranger shouted. I got up, slid over to the door, quickly unlocked it and opened it, knife at the ready. My jaw nearly hit the floor. It was Raynor. The first thing I noticed was that he looked terrible. He had a black eye and he was far too pale. He looked like he hadn't slept in a week.

"Pack up and follow me," he said simply, not telling me why he wanted me to do so. "You might need that," he added, nodding at the blade still clutched tightly in my hand.


	24. Panic

Shedding Skins

Chapter Twenty Four

Panic

* * *

"Raynor, what the fuck's going on?" I demanded as we both sprinted down the stairs of the Pokemon Center. Why I had to follow him, I didn't know. I was also starting to worry. Raynor was rushing to get out. He was frantic. Raynor didn't get frantic - he was an eight badge trainer who might even become the champion. He shouldn't be panicking.

"Later," he panted, barging through the doors of the Center and making his way out into the night, me following behind him. He dropped a Pokeball and a red, white and gold ape that was a bit taller than me burst out of the ball. "Lash, protect us and yourself" Raynor commanded his Infernape, gesturing to me.

"No, Raynor, not later. Now. I need to know what's happening," I shouted. It was then that I looked around and noticed that this was not an ordinary night. Everybody was rushing, people were fighting and more than a few people, including myself, were trying - and failing - to hide firearms or blades.

"Fine! People are shitting themselves at the sight of trainers because of a riot in Blackthorn, and people are going to get violent on both sides. In short, here's dangerous," he explained hastily.

"How dangerous?" I asked, getting worried.

"People will die. That's not a guess. That's how dangerous this is," he replied, getting somewhat irritated by my questions.

"I'm meeting Forrest here today. I have to stay," I told him. As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Raynor rounded on me.

"I don't care what you want, you're not staying," he told me. This annoyed me.

"Who do you think you are? I can make my own decisions and I'm choosing to stay!" I shouted. Raynor opened his mouth to say something, but I never found out what he wanted to say because I turned around and ran. Raynor had no chance of finding me in the throng of panicking people.

I battled through the crowd, punching people to get past more than once. I wasn't really sure where I was going, I just knew that I wanted to get away from Raynor and find Forrest. That task proved to be difficult, since I wasn't sure if Forrest was even in Olivine yet.

"Calm down!" A voice screamed through a megaphone. I turned around and caught sight of a small, slim girl in her late teens standing on the roof of the Olivine Gym - which was not too far away. She had shoulder length hair that was white for some reason and clutched a megaphone in one hand. I recognized that it was Jan, the Leader of Olivine Gym.

"I will not allow a riot to happen in my city! Calm down!" She had a shrill but commanding voice. In fact, the voice was so commanding that most people stopped moving or at least slowed down. I was one of the few that didn't, although I kept my eyes on her and listened to what she had to say.

"Whore!" I deep voice bellowed from the crowd. The insult was followed by three loud bangs. A mark then appeared on Jan's upper thigh. It took me a few moments to piece it together. The bangs had been gunshots and the mark was a bullet wound. The Leader dropped the megaphone and looked down at the wound, which was leaking blood all down her leg by now. After a few moments, the injured leg buckled and Jan fell from the roof of her Gym. I didn't see where she landed because of the crowd surrounding the Gym.

Everything seemed to go quiet for a moment. That moment was short lived, however, and everybody started moving again, with renewed panic. I was no exception. I basically ran and punched people to get past them.

"Trainer!" I heard someone bark. Suddenly, three tall, heavily built men converged on me. I was punched in the ribs, which doubled me over, and then dragged into an alley. I then noticed that both my arms were being held back by two of the men, who had gotten behind me. The other stood in front of me and pulled his fist back, aiming straight for my face.

I plan formed in my mind. When he punched, I ducked my head to avoid his fist, then jerked my body to the side. I fell into the man to my left, but more importantly, the two pokeballs in my pocket made contact with him. They burst open at the contact and Naja and Ares were suddenly beside me. Neither of my Pokemon wasted any time.

Ares perched himself on the head of the one to my right and set to work carving up the man's face with his sharp mouth parts. I saw Ares taking one of his eyes and a large portion of his cheek before I turned away, feeling sick. Turning away, however, didn't stop me from hearing his tortured, horrified screams of agony.

Naja was crushing the one to my left, while latching onto the man's shoulder with his fangs. The man's eyes were wide and his face was turning a very worrying shade of purple. I had more important things than his welfare on my mind, though. I had my welfare, and that of my Pokemon's on my mind.

The only one of the men still standing was the one who had tried to punch me, who was still just standing in front of me, looking on with terror at what had become of the man on my right. I hardly even thought about what I was doing. My knife was out in a second and I swung my hand at him, knife clutched in my fingers. It sliced into his shoulder and he let out a cry of pain. He then staggered out of the alley and got lost in the throng of people.

I couldn't have cared less about pulling my knife on that guy. I had to, or I may have died, and he deserved it anyway. The three of those men had attacked me simply because I was a trainer. I had to wonder what kind of person would do something like that, how much of a bastard someone would have to be to kill, simply because someone else was different from you.

I looked at the two figures lying on the ground on either side of me. Raynor had been right. Two people had died already.

* * *

After that, I no longer battled my way through the crowds of people, I tried to go round the crowds. People shouted out that I was a trainer when I passed and I had to run for my life, hence the reason I tried to avoid the crowds.

I did not know what to do. The thought of finding Forrest was getting further and further from my mind. The more pressing thought was simply staying alive. I had no idea where Raynor was, either. I figured that he had simply went wherever he was planning without me. I couldn't blame him.

I found myself wishing that I had just went with Raynor. If Forrest had any sense, then he would simply stay in route thirty-eight, where it was bound to be safer, rather than continue on to Olivine. I should not have done as stupid as to run away from Raynor.

I thought I was going to die that night. Multiple times, actually, usually when someone shouted "Trainer!" I would burst into a sprint and try to get as far away from that part of Olivine as fast as I possibly could. I had thought I was going to die a couple of times before. When I was attacked by the Ariados, for example, and during the Goldenrod riot. This time was different, though. It was a prolonged period of fearing for my life.

"Trainer!" Somebody shouted. I looked up, ready to run, but they weren't referring to me. They were pointing to someone else. I managed to see over the sea of heads, and I recognized Forrest, just walking in from route thirty-eight. I could hardly believe it - I had more or less given up on finding Forrest.

Forrest just looked confused. My blood turned to ice in my veins. Forrest didn't know what was happening.

"Run!" I bellowed over to him. By some miracle, he heard it and caught sight of me. He started sprinting. Unfortunately, the crowd then rounded on me. I started running again. My legs were aching, my throat was raw, my heart was pounding and my lungs felt like they were about to burst but I ignored it all and kept running as fast as I could. I was running for my life; I couldn't afford to slow down.

I lost my pursuers relatively quickly. I slunk through the alleyways and moved through any deserted place that I could find. I was terrified. I definitely had not thought I was signing up for this when I became a trainer. I heard someone shouting at me and I immediately made to run for it, but then I realized the the voice had referred to me by my name and not simply as "trainer" for once.

I turned around and saw Forrest walking towards me. He looked terrible. I knew I probably didn't look too great either, but I couldn't possibly look as bad as him. He was far too pale, his face was glistening with sweat and he had the look of someone had just been completely and utterly broken.

"Forrest? You okay?" I asked.

"No," he responded quietly. I did not like this. This was not the Forrest I knew. He was like an empty shell. His personality and his drive seemed to have just disappeared. It couldn't have been the riot alone that caused him to be like this.

"What's up?" I asked tentatively.

"You know Hank Vernon? The Mahogany Town Gym Leader?" He asked in his hollow, broken voice.

"Yeah," I said, nodding. I had heard very little about him but I knew of him. He was one of the stronger Gym Leaders, he was the oldest of the Gym Leaders and he was also considered to be the most unpleasant of all the Gym Leaders.

"Well, I battled him for my third badge. I used Marine, Nail and Aard to fight him," he told me. I assumed Aard was his Riolu. "Marine took out his Magmar then got injured by his Carnivine. I returned Marine, and sent out Nail, who KO'd his Carnivine. Then he sent out a Mr. Mime. And it...It killed Nail," he went on, taking a shaky breath.

I wasn't expecting that. First of all, losing a Pokemon was a terrible thing - as I knew from past experience. I knew that it must be worse for Forrest than it was for me, however. I had known my Chikorita for less than a day, and I hadn't known Wreck for very long either, although he didn't actually die. Forrest had been with Nail for most of his time training. It would be like me losing Naja, Cerletti or Ares.

"I'm sorry," I said feebly. It was the only thing I could think of. Then again, what else can you say to someone in that situation?

"I feel like hell," he muttered, burying his face in his hands. I placed a hand comfortingly on his shoulder. There was nothing to be said.

"This has happened to you? How did you get through it?" He practically begged me to tell him.

"You just have to get on with things," I replied honestly. "Try to put it out of your mind until you can bear to think about it." I then remembered where we were. We were in an alleyway, hiding from people who seemed to want to kill all trainers.

"But Forrest, we have to get out of here before somebody finds us," I told him. I was aware that he probably couldn't think of anything but the death of Nail but he had to try, or we could end up just as dead. He took a deep breath and gave a weak nod.

We sneaked cautiously about Olivine City, trying to think of somewhere safe to go, but not really having any luck. I didn't regret running away from Raynor anymore, because if I had, he would probably have been caught by the crowd. Had he been caught, he could have died.

"I'm going to kill you!" We heard a voice shout from behind us. Forrest and I looked back at the same time, ready to run, as usual. We had no reason to run, though. It was Raynor again. In addition to the black eye he'd had before, he know had a burst lip, burst nose a bruised cheek and was walking a little funny. I figured that I probably had a fair amount of injuries as well, but not as many as him.

"Forrest would have probably died if I hadn't tried to find him," I responded, sensing an oncoming argument.

"I don't care -" He stopped abruptly, as if he was about to say something he shouldn't. "Just..." He trailed off. He dropped a pokeball and a muscular, six foot, human like Pokemon appeared in a flash of light. It was primarily white and green, and I couldn't help but notice that it bore a certain similarity to Cerletti, although it was much less feminine.

"Teleport," Raynor muttered to his Gallade, which grabbed my shoulder with one hand and Forrest's with the other, before I felt the somewhat familiar sensation of my guts twisting inside me as we teleported, our destination a mystery to me.


	25. Prohibition

Shedding Skins

Chapter Twenty Five

Prohibition

* * *

"Forrest?" I said into the darkness. I figured out that we were in a room, but the lights weren't on. I saw a brief flash of light and managed to catch a glimpse of Raynor and his Gallade teleporting in after us.

"Yeah?" Forrest replied, voice still hollow. I heard a crash, followed by a series of choice curses, courtesy of Raynor, before the lights flickered on overhead. We were in a messy, cluttered bedroom. Posters of famous trainers covered the walls and clothes and other objects lay strewn everywhere. There was an unmade bed, a table with a T.V sitting on it, a wardrobe and little else.

"Where is this?" I asked, trying to figure it out.

"My house. My parents left it to me when they moved to Hoenn," Raynor replied shortly. He was still quite clearly unhappy with me. I didn't blame him. It then occurred to me that this was probably Raynor's room.

"Hey, is -" I started, but I went silent rather abruptly. Above, the bed, something was hovering. It was a round, black face, with two disproportionately large, white eyes and a twisted grin. I noticed that it had two small, sharp fangs protruding from its upper jaw. The floating black ball was surrounded by a ghostly purple fog. I found myself frozen with fear.

"That's just Hate. He's a Gastly. He prefers to haunt my house when he's not with me," Raynor explained, returning his Gallade.

"Is that even legal?" I asked.

"Of course not," he replied, a ghost of a smile on his face. "Now, come on. There are places we have to be," he said, walking out of the room and then out of the house. Forrest and I quickly followed.

"Where are we?" I inquired, looking around. I didn't recognize the place.

"Cianwood. It's the safest place in Johto just now," Raynor told me. I got the feeling that he wasn't as annoyed with me anymore.

"Why?"

"Just wait for a minute," he said. We continued to follow him as he made his way towards east Cianwood. As we approached, a beach came into view. There was bright yellow sand, and dark water that reflected the night sky. I noticed a handful of Krabby scuttling sideways across the shore. I also saw a lone Shuckle sitting there, poking its head out of its shell and looking around.

"In here," Raynor indicated the Pokemon Center that we had just reached then walked inside. We followed him. It was more crowded than I had ever seen any other Center. We followed Raynor to the back of the Center, until we were close enough to see the front desk. Several things caught my attention then.

The first was that the nurses, surgeons and other staff were all sitting behind the desk, tied up and gagged. The second was that a familiar red haired, confident trainer was presently climbing up on top of the desk. He put two fingers to his lips and let out a shrill, sharp whistle that caught everybody's attention.

"Listen up!" He barked. The crowd did as he told them. "Almost every person on this island is a trainer. The staff and the few non trainers have been tied up but won't be harmed," he went on.

"Why?" Someone shouted angrily from the crowd.

"Because people are angry at trainers at the moment," he shouted back.

"Why's that?" Someone else shouted.

"See for yourselves," Tyson said, pointing a remote at the huge plasma screen T.V on the back wall of the Center. A picture suddenly appeared on it.

"Seventeen police officers killed and many more injured," the newsreader read out. There was a chorus of gasps from the crowd.

"They've conveniently not mentioned trainer deaths," a tall, blonde trainer shouted out. I noticed that she was wearing fingerless gloves and had eight badges pinned to one of them.

"It is a tragedy that has certainly shocked the nation. Now some words from Kiera Fallow," the newsreader continued. I recognized her as a politician who had a lot to do with the laws regarding training.

"Aside from those police officers, dozens of civilians also been killed during the riots that followed the incident in Blackthorn City. Due to that, we are imposing a ban on training, in order to protect the people of Johto," the politician said gravely. There was an immediate uproar in the Center. All around, people were shouting and screaming their rage over what had just been announced.

"Shut it!" A voice roared from up front. Another three figures had climbed up on the front desk along with Tyson. Raynor was one of them and the tall blonde trainer was also there. The trainer who had just spoke, however, was a man in his twenties. He had a bright red Mohawk, a lot of piercings and wore a wifebeater with a pair of faded jeans. I didn't recognize him.

"Watch this," Raynor called to the crowd, gesturing to the T.V.

"And now some footage we obtained from the Blackthorn riot," came a voice from the T.V. I immediately noticed the subject of the video - Reece, the Leader of Blackthorn Gym.

"You're under arre-" a police officer started but he didn't get any further, as a Cacturne backhanded him across the face with one spiked arm. A dozen police officers all converged upon Reece, brandishing their nightsticks. A Drapion picked up one police officer in each of its huge pincers and threw them over the crowd. A Bastiodon then formed a ball of light in its mouth and spat it at the nearest group of police officers. The flash cannon attack exploded with a flash of bright light, causing the police officers to all stagger back, roaring with pain while they clutched at their temporarily sightless eyes.

"Backup!" One of the police officers almost pleaded. Just then, though, Reece returned all of his Pokemon and released a Xatu. He put a hand on its back and they disappeared in a flash of light. The video then ended. Tyson switched the T.V off.

"All trainers are safe in my city!" The Mohawk trainer bellowed. What did he mean by his city?

"Are you the new Gym Leader?" Somebody from the crowd called out. That would explain it.

"Yes, I am. I'm L.J," he introduced himself to the crowd.

"What about the training ban?" Someone called out.

"It won't stick," the tall blonde trainer answered.

"Yeah. There are a lot of us and we have the Elite Four and the Gym Leaders on our side," Tyson agreed.

"Maybe the Frontier Brains as well, but we're not sure where they stand," Raynor added.

"You forgot someone," came a strong voice from the door. Everyone simultaneously turned to see who was there. I managed to get a look at him by standing on a chair to see over the crowd. It was an old man. He was mostly bald, although he had a little white hair left. He wore a pair of half moon glasses and a pristine looking grey suit. He also walked with the aid of a wooden cane. Despite his age and his cane, he looked in no way fragile or weak. In fact, he looked quite the opposite.

The crowd was suddenly alive with whispers. "Who's that?"

"Never seen him before."

"That's Pauli Grey."

"I thought he retired."

"Wasn't he a Gym Leader?"

"Yeah, one of the strongest."

"You all know that they're going to lift this ban when they realize trainers aren't going to go quietly?" He asked the crowd. The retired Gym Leader just emanated wisdom and experience from every pore. He was like the ultimate veteran trainer and his mere presence simply demanded a great deal of respect.

"Yeah," the tall blonde trainer agreed.

"I have spoken to the Frontier Brains. They have agreed to take action if the situation gets worse, but at present, they will remain neutral," the old trainer informed everyone. This seemed to raise the spirits in the room, if only a little.

"What do you mean by that? Can the situation even get any worse?" A trainer shouted out. Pauli looked at the trained as if he was an idiot.

"Of course it can get worse. The government could declare war on trainers, and - being so poorly organized at the moment- we probably would not win."

"Everybody, grab a key and take a room," L.J called to rest of the Center, as though he didn't want Pauli to say any more. "There are enough in here to hold everybody just now, but you'll need to share when more trainers arrive," he added as the crowd started surging towards the front desk to get a key. Forrest and I made sure to get rooms next door to each other before we filed up the stairs with the rest of the trainers.

* * *

I turned the T.V on, collapsed onto the bed in my room and released my team. Naja was still wearing his translation collar. I took it off of him and put it in my bag, since it was clear that it was annoying him. I checked the time on my phone after that, and found that it was two in the morning.

It had been such a long twenty four hours. First, I had got my third badge from Lee. I found it hard to believe that happened only early afternoon the previous day. I had then threatened the intelligent looking trainer on route thirty-eight, which I still felt bad about, I had just been distracted by the riot, which had started just after it.

The riot had also happened, when I had nearly died more than once. Naja and Ares had killed a person each, but that was in self defense, and I hadn't done it myself, so I didn't feel as bad about that. I had met back up with Forrest, albeit in a different way than what I had expected. Then Cainwood, the training ban and Pauli Grey turning up. It was quite a series of events.

I couldn't believe that the government had put a ban on training. I wasn't sure what I would do if the ban was permanent. I figured that I would keep training anyway, illegal or not. It had become far too big a part of my life for me to just give up. In fact, it wasn't a part of my life anymore, it was my life. L.J had mentioned that more trainers would arrive, although when they would do so, I had no idea.

I had a though just then and took out my phone before starting to type a text message. In all of the confusion, I hadn't got in touch with Marnie.

_Where are you? Are you okay?_

I sent it to Marnie and put my phone away. Nothing to do really but wait for her reply. I knew that Johto was in a bad way just now. If I thought about it, I knew that there was a very real chance that she had been hurt, or worse. However, I didn't, even for one second, expect that she would be hurt. Other people got hurt, not people I knew.

I noticed that Naja was looking at me, somewhat expectantly. I reached into my bag and put on the translation headset. He let out a hiss, but it was translated into English by the headset.

_"I would like to know what is happening," _the voice said into my ear.

_"What is going on here?" _Cerletti's voice echoed inside my head. Ares just buzzed into the air and stuck himself to the nearest wall, blissfully unaware of the situation.

"Training's been banned, and I don't know what's going to happen," I said to the two of them. Cerletti gave a small gasp but Naja remained impassive. Ares just flitted over to the wall next to the bed, about a foot away from my face. I couldn't help but smile a little at his senseless antics. He gave a small buzz.

_"Wall...Solid..."_ A rather high pitched voice said into my ear. I recognized that it was Ares' translated speech. He gave another buzz.

_"Window...Closed..."_ Came his translated speech again, as he dashed over to said window.

_"Door...Locked..." _Was he checking to make sure the room was secure? I deduced that he was not as stupid as I had assumed he was.

"Nothing we can do except wait," I told the other two, since they could understand me. I flicked through the channels on the T.V until I found an old sitcom that I was quite fond of. I also held the egg, paying attention in case it moved. I did, but it also made a sound. I couldn't tell what kind of noise it was - I had never heard anything like it before.

"Guys! Did you hear that?" I asked Naja and Cerletti. Naja gave me a bored look, but Cerletti had the decency to at least look interested. A second later, Ares perched himself on the egg.

_"Egg...Not good...Keep eye...On..." _Came his translated speech. It was starting to sound more than a little deranged.

There was definitely something not right about this egg.


	26. Cianwood

Shedding Skins

Chapter Twenty Six

Cianwood

* * *

"Dude, you would pick Kangaskhan over Snorlax? Really?" Forrest asked, incredulously. It was the day after we arrived in Cianwood and we were standing outside the Pokemon Center. We were having a discussion about what normal type we would have if we could have any in the world.

"Fair enough, it can take a lot more hits before it needs bailing out, but Kangaskhan is much, much faster," I argued.

"Snorlax is stronger as well. It has higher special capabilities. The only thing Kangaskhan has on it is speed," Forrest countered.

"If Snorlax had enough energy to haul its fat ass off the ground, I would pick Snorlax, but as if that's going to happen," I scoffed.

"You have a point," he conceded, although I could tell that he would still pick Snorlax. "But why Kangaskhan? There are still better normal types," he went on.

"Like what?"

"Well, there are the other beasts like Ursaring, Tauros, and especially Slaking. Then there's others Togekiss, Lickilicky and Chansey," he said.

"And the weird ones. Like the Porygon line, Smeargle, Ditto, Castform and maybe some others," I added.

"Yeah. So why Kangaskhan?"

"Well, they're all good, but a mother Kangaskhan is equally as effective. I like the way it looks as well, I suppose," I replied.

"How about fighting types?" Forrest asked. I didn't even need to think about it.

"Machamp," I said immediately.

"I can't decide between Machamp and Heracross," Forrest groaned, trying - and failing - to pick one.

"Heracross are little bastards, so I choose Machamp," I explained. He gave a small laugh.

"What do you think's going to happen?" He quite suddenly changed the subject. This caught me off guard.

"From the sounds of it, the Gym Leaders and Elite Four will arrive and the government will lift the ban." I didn't really think that would happen. It's not that I didn't trust Pauli, Tyson, Raynor, L.J or the tall blonde trainer - the five that seemed to have taken charge - but I just had a gut feeling that it wasn't going to go nearly as smoothly.

"I can't believe the Frontier Brains aren't here. They're trainers too, they should be here." There was a hint of anger in Forrest's voice.

"I know. What do you think's going to happen when all the trainers have arrived? There can't be enough rooms in the Center, even if everybody doubles up," I said, wondering what would happen myself.

"I have no idea. Maybe we'll need to triple up. Or quadruple up," he suggested. I found that suggestion highly unlikely.

"Everybody, in the Center!" L.J's voice boomed from the entrance of the Pokemon Center. We had been restricted to a small area of Cainwood, consisting of the Center, some shops and part of the beach, so everybody heard his voice. We followed the instruction and filed into the Center.

"More trainers have arrived and you're going to have to start doubling up," L.J announced when everybody was in the Center. There was a collective groan from everybody in the building.

"Shut it," Tyson shouted from the front desk, where he was standing with L.J, Raynor, tall blonde trainer and Pauli. It seemed to have became their standard place to make speeches.

"Okay...Rooms...One-oh-eight to one-forty-six are going to have to be sharing," tall blonde trainer said, reading something from a sheet of paper.

"Dammit..." I muttered. Forrest and I were rooms one-twenty-two and one-twenty-three, respectively. I did not particularly want to share a room with a complete stranger.

"Wonder who I'll be sharing with?" Forrest wondered aloud. He didn't seem annoyed by this at all. In fact, he seemed somewhat happier at the news.

"For those of you that don't know, there's a second, pull-out bed underneath every bed in the Center, so no one has to sleep on the floor," Raynor called out helpfully. That made the situation better.

"These new trainers will be shown to their rooms at four in the afternoon, in case anyone was wondering," Pauli added. It was nearly one so that gave us three hours before our new room mates arrived.

* * *

"Aren't you bothered that you'll be sharing a room with a complete stranger?" I asked Forrest. We were at the small area of beach that we were permitted to use. All of our Pokemon were out, training.

"Not really. I might like my new room mate," Forrest shrugged. Forrest's team had changed since I last saw it. Marine had evolved into a Floatzel. The thing was thick with muscle and was actually quite ferocious looking. He was also much more aggressive than he had been in Goldenrod, glaring at anyone who so much as looked at his trainer.

His Luxio, Leo, was a great Pokemon. He was fast and her electric attacks were both accurate and strong. He obeyed her trainer but didn't seem to like him much. Saying that, he also didn't seem to particularly dislike him either, so it wasn't really a problem.

His Riolu, Aard, was his most impressive Pokemon, however. The aura Pokemon trained rigorously and continuously, taking a shot at any Pokemon, regardless of size or power. More than once, Forrest had to return him because he was attacking another trainer's Pokemon.

I opened my mouth and was about to say something else but I was interrupted by a loud whine. The two of turned round to see Aard lying on the ground, about six feet away from another Pokemon. It was a humanoid Pokemon, with a lean, grey body and what appeared to be baggy, red and yellow pants. It looked like it was wearing some form of hat, with three bulb like extensions on it. Its lips appeared to puckered and its large eyes seemed permanently focused on something.

"Dammit," Forrest hissed, already running over to his fallen Riolu.

"Shit! Calm down!" The Medicham's trainer shouted. Aard jumped back to his feet, pulled his arm back and then thrust it forward in a force palm attack. The Medicham saw this coming and gripped Aard's wrist before he could land the attack. The next moment, Aard's arm was twisted painfully behind his back, the Medicham leaning heavily on it. I had a feeling that his arm was close to breaking.

"Calm that thing down!" Forrest pleaded, fumbling in his pocket for Aard's pokeball.

"Stop it!" The trainer barked at his fighter. The Medicham didn't stop applying pressure. Instead, the massive bulk of Marine sprinted over and launched two rapid, hard punches at the Medicham's face. It let go of Aard and stumbled back, blood leaking from a cut on its upper lip and one eye black and swollen. The Medicham retaliated with a thunder punch to Marine's stomach, which sent him to the floor.

"Just return it," Forrest growled, taking out Marine's pokeball and returning him. Aard, however, had recovered by this time and was back up on his feet. He jumped up into the air and aimed another force palm attack the Medicham. This one landed, hitting the other fighter in its hurt eye. It let out a scream of pain and stumbled backwards.

"Fuck!" Forrest groaned, once again digging around in his pocket for Aard's pokeball. As he was doing that, however, Ares zoomed in and tackled the Medicham. It knocked it off balance, which gave Aard the opportunity to actually knock it off its feet with a third force palm. I wasn't bothered since I was positive that Ares could use his speed to evade any attack the Medicham would try. Assuming it was even able to get up again, of course.

"Jesus..." Forrest sighed, after returning a protesting Riolu. Ares continued to repeatedly tackle and quick attack the fallen Pokemon. The other trainer looked at me expectantly. I made no move to return him. He shot a scowl my way before returning his Medicham and stalking off, murmuring an apology. Ares then accidentally tackled the sand where the Medicham had been only a moment previous, before stopping and looked around, confused at where his opponent had went.

"Why didn't you call off Ares? That Medicham clearly wasn't getting back up," Forrest asked, rounding on me.

"Did he return his Medicham when it was beating the piss out of Aard and Marine?" I countered.

"Two wrongs don't make a right," Forrest shot back.

"Yes they do," I disagreed. I genuinely believed that.

"So you think that letting Ares attack that Medicham was the right thing to do?"

"Well...Yeah," I replied. I had no idea where this argument had even came from. I certainly hadn't intended to start an argument.

"That's...You know what? Forget it." Forrest turned around and started walking back to the Pokemon Center. As well as being somewhat disgusted with what I believed, I think he sensed that there would be no changing my mind either.

* * *

I was walking through the small section of Cainwood that we were actually permitted to use, thinking about my argument with Forrest. I hadn't intended to start an argument and I certainly hadn't wanted to. I didn't think the argument was something of great importance, but Forrest seemed to feel strongly about it for some reason or another.

"Oh my god!" Someone screamed as I was thinking about this. At first I thought somebody was in some form of trouble, but I quickly realized that this wasn't the case.

"Is that her?" Another trainer shouted. I turned around to see a crowd already gathering, full of pointing fingers and shouting voices. I went over and joined the crowd, curious as to what was so important. I stood up on my tiptoes to try and get a better look at who, or what, what was at the center of the crowd.

"Mind letting me past?" Said someone from the center of the crowd. It was a girl who looked to be in her early twenties. She had dark, tanned skin and black hair, which was pulled into a ponytail, with a fringe that cut above her eyes. I noticed not eight, but sixteen badges pinned to the front of her denim jacket.

I also noticed that there was a rather large, strange Pokemon walking beside her. Although it was large, it walked on all fours, close to the ground on its short legs. Its was entirely made up of varying shades of green, and a red membrane protected each eye. It had large, kite shaped wings that it had folded against its back, two long crests on the back of its head and a long, muscular, striped tail with three rhombus shapes on the end. Overall, it looked like a strangely bug like, oversized lizard.

"Hello? Mind letting me past?" She repeated. That's when I realized where I recognized her from. I had seen her on the T.V once, not long ago. It was Shenzi, the newest Elite Four member. "For the love of..." She sighed. "Dragonbreath," she ordered her Flygon. It reared up onto its short, back legs and belched out a ball of blue-green fire into the air. The crowd hastily parted for the Elite Four member to get past.

"I got here as quick as I could," she said to the five that had taken charge - Pauli, Tyson, Raynor, L.J and tall blonde trainer - when she went inside the Center, the rest of the crowd, myself included, following behind her.

"And it took you a whole day?" Tall blonde trainer asked.

"Yes, actually. I was at Stark Mountain in Sinnoh and I didn't have any teleporting Pokemon on me, so I had to fly," she explained, gesturing to her dragon Pokemon.

"What about the other Elites?" Pauli asked, getting straight down to business.

"Seth's been arrested. He didn't have his Pokemon on him so there was nothing he could do," She sighed. The other five did likewise.

"Shit..." L.J muttered. It was clear that this was a major blow to them.

"Leonard's away in Unova. He probably won't have heard about this yet," she went on. The others all looked even more grave.

"Jill's coming but she says she'll be a few days. I don't know why," Shenzi finished.

"So we're down two Elites," Tyson summed up.

"And I'd imagine some of the Gym Leaders are in the same position as Seth," Raynor speculated.

"Meanwhile the Brains are hiding away in their precious little Frontier," tall blonde trainer practically hissed.

"It doesn't really matter. We have two Elites, any Gym Leader that hasn't been arrested and enough strong trainers to bully the government into submission if this non-violent approach doesn't work," Pauli told the others. They then looked towards us. They seemed to have forgotten that they were speaking in front of a crowd of mostly younger trainers.

"Go up to your room if you have one. If you don't, stay here and we'll assign you one," L.J shouted, abruptly changing the subject. I did as I was told.

Back in my room, I dumped my bag on the floor as usual and collapsed on my bed. I then released Naja, Cerletti and Ares, then took the egg out of my bag and held it, listening for noises and feeling for movements. I had only been in for a minute or two when there was a knock at my door. I quickly got up and answered it.

"This is your new room mate," tall blonde trainer said. I looked to the trainer standing next to her. It was tall, intelligent looking trainer that I had nearly stabbed back on route thirty-eight.


	27. Eggs

Shedding Skins

Chapter Twenty seven

Eggs

* * *

We sat in silence, him on the pull out bed, me on the regular bed. Really, what are you supposed to say to someone who you pulled a knife on the day before? Likewise, what should you say to someone who pulled a knife on you?

_"Other human...Don't...Like..." _The high pitched noise of Ares' translated voice sounded in my ear. He was sounding increasingly insane, constantly perching on things and making comments about them. In fact, he sounded paranoid as well as insane. I'm not sure why, but this didn't worry me.

"Are you going to talk?" Intelligent looking trainer asked me after what seemed like hours. Actually, I hadn't been planning on talking to him.

"I would rather ignore you to be honest," I replied.

"Thanks," he deadpanned.

"Fine then. What's your name?"

"Damian," he answered. "What's yours?"

"Linus." That was the last thing I said. We sat there minding our own business for a few more hours before I decided to go to sleep.

* * *

"Yo," came a familiar voice as I came out of my room the next day. I realized that it was Forrest speaking. Our argument from yesterday seemed to have been forgotten.

"Hey," said another familiar voice. I also recognized this speaker.

"Marnie?" I asked, turning around to see the two trainers coming out of Forrest's room.

"She's my new room mate," Forrest told me, smiling.

"You don't say," Marnie deadpanned. It would have been strange for the two of them to come out of the same room otherwise.

"So. What now?" I asked.

"Food?" Forrest suggested. Marnie and I agreed and we made our way down the stairs.

"Where do you think L.J is?" Forrest asked. I looked up at the front desk. There was still five trainers there, but Shenzi had replaced L.J.

"Probably at his Gym," Marnie answered. That would explain it.

"Everybody!" Tyson called. Everyone in the center turned to face him. "Just to let you know, you're all free to wander the whole of Cainwood now," he told us. There was a small cheer of sorts from the crowd. We then made our way outside and into streets of Cainwood which were previously off limits.

"How about here?" Forrest suggested, gesturing to a cheap looking diner. I offered to pay since the other two were running somewhat low on money. My money supply was also dwindling, although I still had enough left from the money that Tyson had given me, and from my winnings in Violet City.

"This tastes like cardboard," I commented, after taking a bite out of my meal.

"I know," Marnie agreed. "Doesn't the taste - or lack of it - bother you?" She asked Forrest, who was happily tearing apart a piece of bacon.

"Not really. Food is food," he shrugged, dismembering another slice of bacon. After we finished, we left the place and started wandering.

"Why don't we go to the Gym?" Marnie asked.

"Because we'll probably get curb stomped. I don't think we're ready for another Gym challenge yet," I answered.

"Train there instead, then," she suggested.

"Sounds like a plan," Forrest commented, smiling.

"That's because it is a plan," Marnie replied. We made our way to said Gym, through the crowded streets of Cainwood. I imagined that it was usually a quieter city, but having such a large portion of the training population there would make things crowded.

"Here it is," I said, when we reached the Gym. I could see that Marnie wanted to make a smart comment but she managed to restrain herself. The Gym looked the same as the other three that I had seen, just a giant box of brick with a neon sign above the heavy double doors. Inside, however, it was vastly different to the others.

I felt myself sweating as soon as I entered. Everything seemed distorted by the intense heat in the room, and I could see more than a few fires burning in different parts of the Gym. It was different to the other three Gyms in that it had three floors; a ground floor, one above that and another underground. The top floor had less intense heat for Pokemon that couldn't handle the ground floor and the underground floor was for Gym challenges, although when he wasn't battling, L.J wandered around the other two floors.

Naja did well with the heat. In fact, he seemed more energetic than usual. I guessed that it was maybe something to do with him being cold blooded. Cerletti did about as well as I did, which meant a lot of sweating, panting, needing to drink and general lack of energy. Ares did so badly that I had to return him, since we wanted to stay on the ground floor.

Forrest's Pokemon fared well with the heat. Marine seemed mostly resistant to the heat, probably because of his water typing. Leo was in a similar state to me, Cerletti and all the other trainers. Aard didn't like the heat at all, but he endured it anyway and kept training by battling against any other Pokemon he could find.

Marnie's team were mixed. Her Vulpix, Amber, was obviously in excellent condition because of the heat. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for all of her Pokemon. Her Mareep had evolved into a Flaaffy, and was overheating so severely that she had to return it. She had also caught a Butterfree since I had last seen her, which more or less shriveled up when exposed to the heat. It also had to be returned.

"When did you catch a Butterfree?" I asked Marnie when we were inside the Gym.

"I didn't, I caught a Caterpie then evolved it into a Kakuna and then a Butterfree," she explained.

"Alright? Here for a badge?" L.J asked, marching over to us. I noticed that the heat had made his crimson Mohawk flop to one side. I struggled to keep myself from laughing.

"Yeah. We're just here to train," Forrest told him.

"That's fine then. Just don't put out any of my fires with that Floatzel of yours or I'll kill you," he said casually, before going upstairs to check on the other trainers.

I didn't like this Gym. Zach's Gym had an energy to it that made me want to battle, and Lee's Gym had that herb or whatever it was that made me more aggressive. Kate's Gym had been relaxing and friendly - that was until the three way fight between Kate, Tyson and Sean. This Gym just made me feel tired and sick. Saying that, the heat made training harder and more effective for our Pokemon.

I held the egg as we walked around the Gym. The heat seemed to be having a positive effect on the evil creature inside the egg, as it was moving about inside the egg more and was also making louder, more frequent noises.

"Hey! Hey you!" I heard somebody shout. I turned around to see a fairly normal looking trainer walking up to me, half a dozen eggs clutched in her arms, all of varying shapes, sizes, colors and patterns. "You like taking care of eggs?" She asked, nodding towards the pale blue egg nestled in my arms.

"I suppose," I replied, guessing at what her next question would be.

"You want to buy one of these eggs then?" It was clear that she was desperate to get rid of them.

"Sorry, but I have my hands full with this egg just now," I told her, holding up said egg to show her. She gave a sigh and looked crestfallen.

"Are you sure?" I was about to tell her that I was, but I heard a sharp cracking sound. I wondered what it was for a second, but I was then distracted as I felt liquid drip onto my bare arm.

"What...?" I said to myself, looking down at my arm. As I did so, I caught sight of the egg. There was a large crack down the middle of it, and a thick, transparent fluid was leaking out of it and onto my arms. Lovely. I gently pried the two halves of the egg apart and reached into the goo. I closed my hand around the tiny Pokemon inside and pulled it out, before opening my hand and inspecting the creature that had just hatched.

It was tiny. Based on the size of the egg, I would have assumed the creature would have bigger, but it was less than six inches long. It was pale blue, with a yellow stomach, lower jaw and ears. Its head had three thick, grey, solid ridges that ran halfway down its back. It also had two small teeth protruding from its lower jaw. Its legs were thick and muscular, while its arms were short and didn't look to be very useful.

"Want to buy another egg now?"

* * *

"You bought another egg?" Marnie asked, a little shocked.

"How can you keep affording eggs?" Forrest asked incredulously.

"I won the first one in a card game and I don't have much money left from buying the new egg. I can't believe I had a Bagon...How cool is that?" I couldn't believe what a cool Pokemon the egg had hatched into. I had been expecting a Wooper or a Wynaut or something, not a baby dragon!

"What will it hatch into?" Forrest asked.

"Don't know. I picked one that I didn't recognize," I replied.

"Why?" He responded.

"It's more fun if it's a surprise when it hatches," I answered. I looked down at the new egg that I was now holding. It was more rounded than the previous egg and also bigger. The surface of the egg was made up of varying shades of green, somewhat similar to camouflage print. I presumed that it was some kind of ground type, or possibly a grass type, although I couldn't hazard a guess at a particular species.

"What about the Bagon? Do you have a name for it?" Marnie asked out of curiosity.

"No. I'm terrible with names," I replied. We were sitting on the beach, watching my Bagon awkwardly crawl about on the sand. One of the more experienced trainers at the Center told me that it was a male and that it would be able to walk upright after a few days. I was to feed him as much meat as possible during the first month of his life and within a week, I could start training him.

I was also happy to find that it didn't seem dark, twisted, evil, hateful or any of the other things Cerletti had described. Ares had also made a comment about it, but I figured they had both just made a mistake. Ares buzzed frantically about him, as if worried and Cerletti glared at him from a distance. Naja seemed to like him, however.

"Does he know any egg moves?" Forrest gestured to the Bagon. In truth, I didn't know.

"Maybe. If he does, they'll hopefully show soon," I replied, shrugging.

"Wait a second..." Marnie said, trailing off. She dug her Pokedex out of her pocket and started typing away at its touch screen. "Defense curl, dragon dance, dragon rage, dragon pulse, dragon rush, fire fang, endure, hydro pump, twister and thrash. Those are all the attacks that Bagon can learn as egg moves," she informed us. Some of those were pretty great attacks.

"Dragon dance! Dragon rush!" Forrest exclaimed.

"I know. Those are such amazing moves...It would be great if he knew a move like that," I replied. I doubted it would know any egg moves.

"Anyone up for training?" Marnie asked us.

"Yeah," I responded.

"I am actually," Forrest agreed.


	28. Another Party

Shedding Skins

Chapter Twenty Eight

Another Party

* * *

The next six weeks consisted of training at the beach and keeping a look out for updates about the training situation. It was a pleasant time, working on tactics and strategies while our Pokemon beat the living daylights out of the native water Pokemon, all the while working under the scorching sunlight.

Cerletti grew a lot during that time, and looked like she was days from evolving. By now, she was just as much a Kirlia as she was a Gardevoir. She learned calm mind, which was amazing. If she used it a few times during battle, it basically made her a living weapon. She also learned healing wish, although I didn't intend on ever using it. She could now use her ranged attacks, like shadow ball and magical leaf, with unnerving accuracy, hitting her target virtually all the time.

Ares grew even more than Cerletti - he evolved into a ferocious Yanmega. He learned bug bite and night slash, which were both hard hitting moves. He also became stronger, faster and much scarier looking. He had taken to using bug bite while zooming past his foes, which more than once resulted in the death of his poor opponent.

Unfortunately, Naja improved the least. He was no longer my strongest Pokemon, and was showing little interest in battling. He was still on par with the Ares and Cerletti, but if they kept improving at the same rate, I knew he would fall behind. He still had his strengths, like understanding near enough every word I said, and being able to follow my commands in battle to the letter, but he hadn't improved much.

I decided to call the Bagon Skyler. He was helpless for the first few days and feeble for the first week, but he started rapidly improving after that. Although he didn't know dragon dance or dragon rush as egg moves, he knew something better: hydro pump. He also learned rage, bite, leer and headbutt through training. Considering how young and inexperienced he was, he was doing remarkably well.

I also found out why Ares and Cerletti had considered him evil. As soon as he could walk, he would try to headbutt me with his steel like skull whenever he got the chance. I nearly sustained broken teeth and a broken nose several times. He was relentless when fighting, often going overboard and beating an unconscious opponent. He didn't like anyone except Naja, who was also the only one who wouldn't put up with his shit. He tried to attack the cobra only once, and ended up covered from head to toe in a particularly concentrated acid attack.

"Linus," someone called over to me. We had been training for just over a month when this happened. I didn't recognize the voice. I looked to see who had called my name and saw Seviper girl walking over. What had she said her name was? Was it Hazel?

"Hey," I said, not using her name in case I got it wrong.

"Want a battle?" Forrest and Marnie were looking at us with interest. They hadn't met her before.

"Alright then. Two on two?"

"Fine by me," she agreed. She dropped a Pokeball and released a bipedal, reptilian Pokemon. It was primarily red and orange in color, with a long, muscular tail that had a flame on the tip of it. Spikes ran down its back and it had fire like horns on its duck billed face. Apparently her Magby had evolved. I had expected a fire Pokemon - the heat would give it an edge in battle.

"Skyler," I called out to the miniature dragon who was abusing a washed up Tentacool. He ignored me. I let out a sigh, returned him to his pokeball and released him again, this time right in front of me.

"Sure about this?" Hazel asked me, eyeing the Bagon curiously. I wanted him to get experience, I wasn't so bothered about winning.

"Yeah," I replied. "Attack," I instructed Skyler. I didn't bother being more specific because he would have ignored me and attacked as he saw fit. He strongly reminded me of Wreck, although Skyler was more brutal and hated me more.

"Fire punch!" Hazel ordered her Magmar. Skyler ran at the fiery reptile, steel like head lowered, with surprising speed. The Magmar's fists started burning, it jumped into the air and then sent one flaming fist at Skyler - who was still running - as he came down. The Magmar's attack missed by inches and its fiery fist struck the sand, forming a large portion of glass.

"Brick break!" Came the next command. The Magmar obeyed, clenched its hand into a fist and sent a quick jab at Skyler. It hit him in the jaw and knocked him out cold straight away. I was happy with that. Skyler had gained experience from that fight and had, hopefully, been taken down a peg or two by his defeat. I quickly returned him.

"Ares!" I called to my gigantic dragonfly, which had been wrestling with a Kingler. One high pitched buzz of his wings later, he was hovering in front of me. He looked truly terrifying. His blood red eyes had black, Y shaped lines, separating each eye into three segments. The spikes jutting out of his back looked cruel and wicked, as did his new fangs. I knew he had a type disadvantage but that wouldn't matter if he could use his speed to evade fire from the Magmar.

"Flamethrower!" Hazel shouted immediately. I guessed that her plan was to finish Ares quickly, before he could do any damage to her Magmar. I didn't even need to tell the dragonfly to dodge.

"Bug bite!" I ordered. He'd had enough practice at this kind of attack with the wild Pokemon recently. As an after though, I added "Don't kill it," before he zoomed forwards. He bit into the reptile's side with his sharp mouth parts and then zoomed away, taking a large mouthful of flesh with him. Blood started spurting from the wound and it was clear that the Magmar could no longer battle. She returned it and released her Seviper.

"Poison tail!" Hazel shouted, pointing at the glass that the Magmar's fire punch had made earlier. The snake was even larger than Naja, and had a thick, muscular body. It used all of that strength to swing its blade like tail at such an angle that when it hit the glass, it shattered it and sent the shards flying towards Ares. An idea popped into my head, although I wasn't sure if it would work.

"Sonicboom!" I shouted, clamping my hands over my ears. I still heard the high pitched ringing noise, although it was muffled. As the razor sharp shards of glass were flying at the dragonfly, the noise from his sonicboom caused the glass to shatter even further. The glass fragments were now so tiny that they formed a harmless powder, which drifted over Ares.

"Poison tail again!" I had the perfect counter to this.

"Silver wind!" Ares started beating his wings rapidly and a dozen white crescents flew at the snake, although only a few hit, it was still enough to halt the Seviper. The attack also created a strong wind, which lifted the glassy powder and caused it to swirl about, creating a silvery vortex which shielded Ares from view. The Seviper had no idea where he was.

"Night slash!" I simply saw a dart of purple striking the Seviper's face, knocking it out and creating a large cut in the process. When the purple color faded, I realized that the dart was actually Ares. I was surprised that we had won.

Hazel disappeared without a word after that, as she had the last time I saw her. I didn't see her again for the next two weeks, which was as long as we stayed in Cianwood.

* * *

"Everybody!" L.J roared from the entrance to the Center. "Get in here right now!" No one had any idea what was going on, however, L.J was out of the Gym for it, so we figured that it must be major.

"This has got to be important," Forrest said as we were walking to the Center.

"It must be," Marnie agreed. I noticed that Forrest and Marnie had been getting along really well in the last few weeks.

"Shut up and watch," tall blonde trainer shouted when everybody was inside the center, gesturing to the flat screen T.V mounted on the back wall. Tyson, Raynor, Pauli, Shenzi, tall blonde trainer, L.J and five other Gym Leaders were all standing at the front, staring at the T.V. Zach, Kate and Lee were among the five other Gym Leaders. I recognized the other two as Reece and Jan - who still had to use crutches because of her injuries during the riots. I noticed another experienced looking trainer and guessed that she was the other Elite.

"...Due to reasons that cannot be disclosed, we have decided to lift the ban on Pokemon training," the newsreader said. It was clear from the expression on her face that she did not approve of this. The whole Center burst into life. There was laughter, cheering and applause at the news. There were also some less than pleasant words about the government thrown in there.

It wasn't long before the music came on, then alcohol was being passed freely around, regardless of the age of the trainers in the Center. I sat at one of the tables with Forrest and Marnie and we just talked for a little while.

"When did you catch a Butterfree?" I asked Marnie.

"I didn't. I caught a Caterpie after that Absol killed my Weedle," she replied casually, apparently not distressed by the death of her Pokemon.

"Aren't you bothered about your Weedle dying?" It was Forrest that asked the question, not me.

"Honestly? Not really. It's intelligence was non existent. It did nothing, apart from eating and it wouldn't learn any commands. As much as I feel bad saying it, I just didn't care about the Weedle," she answered. I thought about my Chikorita and I knew Forrest was thinking about Nail. I didn't really want to continue this conversation, so I left to go and play cards at one of the other tables.

Blackjack, poker, go fish and every other card game I had ever heard of - as well as several that I hadn't - were being played all around the Center. My luck wasn't quite as good as it had been in Violet City but I was still earning myself a considerable amount of money. I finally got a grasp of the rules of poker and made a bit playing that. I was really starting to love card games.

"What's up?" I said to the other three when I was back at the table, having a short break from playing.

"How much money have you lost so far?" Marnie asked snidely.

"I'm richer than I was when I left the table. A lot richer," I replied, grinning triumphantly. "I would be broke if it wasn't for card games," I said, smiling to myself.

"Must be nice to have such good luck," Forrest said.

"I have shitty luck. Cards are the only exception," I laughed. Forrest knew that was true. I went back to playing cards after that, won a shitload of money and then lost most of it again. I played for a while longer and earned a little more, mostly by winning at blackjack. That seemed to be my lucky game. When I had enough money, I decided not to risk losing any more and went back to the table to talk to Marnie and Forrest.

As I approached the table, I noticed that they were sitting very close together, not much space between them. I then noticed that they were sitting ith their arms wrapped around each other, lips pressed together in a kiss.


	29. Going Somewhere

Shedding Skins

Chapter Twenty Nine

Going Somewhere

* * *

Author's Note : I'm changing this from an M to a T rating next chapter, because it doesn't really need to be M rated.

* * *

After teasing Marnie and Forrest about their kiss for a while, winning some more money and teasing my two friends again, I decided to leave. I don't just mean leave the party, I mean I decided to leave Cianwood. Since the training ban had been lifted, I saw no reason to stay in Cianwood. I couldn't even challenge L.J because Naja was the only Pokemon of mine that could stand the heat in the Gym, and I was looking forward to travelling alone for a while.

I told this to Forrest and Marnie, who agreed that we would have to go our separate ways since, between us, we had beaten five different Gym Leaders and of the three left, Jan was injured and not taking challenges, our Pokemon couldn't hold their own in the heat of L.J's Gym and Reece's Gym was on the other side of the region.

"Bye then," I said, hugged them both and swiftly left the Center. It was a dark, rainy night, but I welcomed the rain as it made a nice change to the usual sunlight in Cianwood. I was wearing nothing but a black t-shirt and jeans but the cold didn't bother me as I walked down the beach, towards the docks at the other end of Cianwood.

I took Ares' ultra ball out of my pocket and threw it down onto the wet sand, releasing the dragonfly in a flash of light. Unfortunately, the wet sand prevented the ultra ball from bouncing back up and I had to stoop to retrieve it.

I could have put the translator on him, but as strange as it was, I didn't like being able to understand my team. It was strange to me and I preferred having to interpret their own sounds and body language. Ares let out a buzz and zoomed over to the water, where he skated around for a bit until a small wave knocked him over.

I had noticed that Ares had rapidly became my favorite member of the team. He was always willing to work and train hard, and he was a relatively peaceful Pokemon, unless he was battling or training. He was also improving the most rapidly out of all my team members. I knew that at this rate, he would surpass Naja and Cerletti. I felt bad for having a favorite but I couldn't help it. The Bagon was, not surprisingly, my least favorite, and Naja and Cerletti were tied for second place.

"Hey!" I heard a somewhat deep voice call from somewhere further back along the beach. I recognized that voice. Sure enough, when I turned around, Tyson was jogging across the sand towards me.

I wasn't sure what I thought of Tyson anymore. There had been no reason for him to do that to Kate's Pokemon, but I figured it might not be any different to when I had nearly stabbed Damian. His Pokemon were there, so he used them. My knife was there, so I used it. I had managed to stop myself in time, but only barely. Was there really much difference?

Then he had played such a big part in combating this training ban, along with Raynor, Pauli, L.J, Shenzi and tall blonde trainer - whose name I still didn't know. Without him, the Government may not have lifted the ban so soon. The entire training population - myself included - owed the six of them a whole lot.

"Where are you going?" He panted when he reached me.

"To get my fourth badge. I don't know who I'll get it from," I replied, deciding that it wouldn't be fair or right to stay angry at the older trainer. He seemed to be working something out in his head.

"Promise me something. Promise that you won't fight Hank next," Tyson said gravely. Hank was from Mahogany town.

"But that would be the easiest Gym to get to next - apart from Jan's but she's injured," I told him, perplexed. Why did he not want me to fight Hank? I then remembered that Hank had killed Nail when Forrest had challenged him.

"I don't care. Zener can teleport you to whatever Gym you want, but you cannot challenge him," Tyson practically begged me.

"Why, though?" I pressed.

"Hank Vernon is a dangerous man. He shouldn't be a Gym Leader. He shouldn't be allowed anywhere near Pokemon," he told me, a strange look on his face. Some facts started to line up in my mind.

"Forrest's Nidorino was killed by Hank," I told Tyson, who nodded in response. "You lost a Pokemon to a trainer who used blast burn," I reminded him, remembering the last time we had talked. He didn't specify that it was a Gym Leader but I had assumed it was, because of his reaction to Kate using giga impact. Tyson nodded again. "You lost that Pokemon to Hank Vernon, didn't you?"

"I...Yeah. He's not fit to be a Gym Leader. Leave him for last, when you're more experienced, when you know you can wipe you the floor with him without any of your Pokemon being put even slightly at risk," he told me. I could see that he regretted not doing so himself.

"If he's not fit to be a Gym Leader, then why is he?" I inquired. Surely if a Gym Leader was constantly killing his challengers' Pokemon, he would be fired?

"Hank has friends in high places. Very high places," Tyson told me. A look of pure hatred crossed his face. There wasn't anything else in that look, just hatred.

"But the Elite Four must know about this," I argued.

"The Elite Four are powerful. Hank's more powerful. Elite Four Jill is close to Hank. A lot of government officials are doing what he wants them to do. He has connections with the Rockets. Drugs, the sex industry, illegal weapons, the Pokemon black market and a ton of other illegal activities. You name it, he's involved in it," Tyson explained.

"But there's still three members of the Elite Four that aren't connected with him," I tried.

"Aren't connected with him as far as we know. Jill's been close to him for years, but we only found out a few months ago. And it doesn't matter anyway. The Elite Four won't do anything when their loved ones are threatened. If they fuck with Hank, he'll get the Rockets to kill some of their family members," Tyson sighed. His rage had subsided, and a look of defeat had replaced it.

"But..." I tried to think of some other argument but nothing came to mind.

"Hank has all his bases covered. Only a very brave or stupid person would try to bring him down." Tyson let out another sigh. "So what Gym do you want to challenge," Tyson changed the subject, digging around in his pocket for Zener's pokeball.

"I don't know. And thanks for the offer, but I'd rather travel than teleport," I responded.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

* * *

Since I had refused his offer of teleporting me to whatever town or city I wanted to go to, Tyson gave me a first class ticket for a ferry that sailed from Cianwood to Olivine instead.

The room was much bigger than was necessary. Easily big enough for my team and I to sleep in - and Ares was quite large now, as was Naja. There was a large table, chairs, an en suite bathroom, a fridge and freezer, hell, there was even a computer. It must have cost Tyson a small fortune to buy a ticket to stay in a room like this one.

That got me wondering how rich Tyson actually was. It would be easy for him to go and beat the crap out of a less experienced trainer for the prize money whenever he needed it, but this seemed excessive.

"Hey guys," I greeted my Pokemon as I released them. I felt something smash against my shin and fell over, letting out a cream of pain. I didn't need to look to know that Skyler had just headbutted me. I couldn't tell if his skull felt more like rock or metal. Either way it hurt like hell.

I looked over to see where the little bastard was. When I spotted him, he was lying on the floor, trembling. I noticed two rather large puncture wounds on his side, which was now covered in frost. Naja was next to him, looking completely ignorant of the incident. It was a convincing act aside from the frost rising from his fangs.

I felt like I should have shouted at Naja or punished him in some way but I didn't as I temporarily despised the miniature dragon. Besides, I didn't think Naja would have done anything to badly hurt Skyler.

_"How badly are you hurt?" _Cerletti asked through telepathy.

"I don't think it's broken," I growled through gritted teeth.

_"Take your hands away from your leg and keep it still," _she told me. I did as she asked. She then held her arms out in front of her and formed a ball of pink in her hands that was - aside from the color - not unlike a shadow ball. She pushed it gently and it floated towards my leg, bursting into a thousand pink stars when it made contact with my shin. I then felt a strange warmth spreading throughout my leg, replacing the pain. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks," I said to Cerletti, pushing myself to my feet. "And he deserved that, Naja," I told the snake, gesturing at the still shaking Skyler. Naja gave me a look that clearly said he knew that and didn't need me to tell him.

_"What're you going to do about him?" _Cerletti asked me.

"Wreck didn't like me at first either. He'll come round eventually," I responded.

_"The worst Wreck ever did was struggle when you picked him up. He didn't try to break your leg," _Cerletti told me. I knew it was true.

"I'll train him then. I'll he harsh with him. He'll learn that he can't just try to break my leg then," I argued. I felt Cerletti's presence in my mind but she didn't say anything. I got the impression that she was about to say something but then changed her mind.

Cerletti wanted to heal Skyler with heal pulse but I wouldn't let her. Instead, I left him to recover on his own. I had meant what I said about being harsh. Cerletti didn't agree but reluctantly obeyed me.

I ignored the problems with Skyler after that, though, and thought instead about reaching Olivine. Although Jan wasn't taking challenges, I was still excited. I was looking forward to traveling again. I didn't really like staying in the one place. As far as my next badge, I had the options of facing either Eve or Reece.

Taking on Reece was obviously not an appealing prospect, but neither was Eve. Reece was a tactical genius and an insanely skilled trainer. Many people believed he should try for a spot on the Elite Four. Eve wasn't as skilled as Reece, but Marnie had told me the Gym was a nightmare to beat. She didn't tell me why it was so bad, however.

After failing to decide which Gym to challenge next, I climbed into the bed and returned Skyler to his pokeball, although I left the other three out to do as they pleased during the night. There was a pull out bed which Cerletti slept in, Ares claimed the table for himself and Naja curled up in the corner. I said goodnight to them all, and I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.


	30. Deal

Shedding Skins

Chapter Thirty

Deal

* * *

I woke up just before the ship arrived in Olivine, fully refreshed and ready for my first day of travelling in just over six weeks. How I had missed training. I was the first out of the ship when it arrived, desperate to get on my way.

Olivine was a beautiful city. The last time I had been here, it was night and I was too preoccupied to care about its beauty anyway. There were tall flats mostly, but I spotted a few luxurious looking villas while strolling through the city. There didn't seem to be any dark colors in Olivine. The buildings were all white, the sky was clear and cloudless and the sunlight seemed to reflect off everything, making the city seem even brighter.

I didn't stop at the Center. Instead, I headed straight towards route thirty nine. As soon as I was out of the city limits, I released my team. Ares, Naja and Cerletti all seemed to be happy to be out in the open again. Skyler tried attacking me again. I expected it, though, and sidestepped swiftly, evading another headbutt to the shin. I then launched a kick at him, which struck his side and sent him tumbling across the grass.

I felt bad for kicking him, even though he had attacked me first. Despite how bad I felt, I could see no other way to get him to listen to me, so I didn't let my feelings show.

He grudgingly trudged along behind us after that, although I kept myself alert in case he tried to attack me again. There was no doubt in my mind that the dragon could use that head of his to do some serious damage.

"Guys," I called to the others. "We'll stop here to eat," I told them, dropping my bag and rummaging about for said food. I eventually pulled out a couple of tins of cheap, canned meat. They were heavy to carry but it was worth it to have meat. I shared a tin with Cerletti and then split the contents of the other tin between Naja and Ares.

Skyler looked at me expectantly. I wasn't sure what to do.

"You can get your own food," I grunted, deciding to stick with harshness. In response, the dragon sneaked over to a tree that was close by and stood motionless for about a minute. He suddenly lifted his foot and brought it down upon the back of an unfortunate Rattata as it was scampering across the dirt. I heard a sharp crack as its back was broken.

I saw a worrying smile spread across Skyler's reptilian face as he twisted his foot and crushed the Rattata into the ground even further. It tried to scramble away with its front legs - its back ones didn't seem to be working - but it was futile. He then grabbed it by the back of the neck with his clawed hands. lifted it and bashed its head off the tree trunk three times, after which, the Rattata went limp.

So Cerletti, Ares, Naja and I sat eating our canned beef while Skyler feasted on the dead Rattata. I also sat and wondered what the hell I was going to do about this psychopath of a Pokemon. So far he had nearly broke my leg and had just enjoyed brutally killing a Rattata.

_"I told you he was hateful and twisted," _Cerletti's voice echoed in my head.

"He was an egg at the time. It's not like I could have released him," I shot back, hugging the new, camouflaged egg and hoping it wouldn't be a monstrosity like Skyler.

_"You could release him now," _Cerletti suggested.

"He's just as much a member of this team as me or you," I argued.

_"He doesn't even like you. In fact, he'd be happy to watch you die," _came her voice again.

"How do you know that?" I asked her.

_"It doesn't take a genius to work it out. And I could read his mind if I needed to, anyway," _she replied, somewhat proudly.

I finished the last of my meat and we started along route thirty-eight, walking at a leisurely pace, not really caring when we reached Ecruteak. Well, we walked at a leisurely pace until I received a text message. It wasn't from Forrest or Marnie. It wasn't from Tyson and it wasn't from Raynor. It wasn't even from Damian or Hazel. It was from my mother.

_Come home right now._

I should have seen it coming. After the training ban, it was obvious that my parents would want to see me. I didn't know why they hadn't contacted me when the ban was still in place but I assumed that there was a good reason for it.

We sped up after that. I obviously didn't want to keep my parents waiting, and I was somewhat unnerved by the message. It sounded urgent.

"D'you think something's up?" I asked Naja as we walked. He didn't have the translation collar on since he hated it and I wasn't too fond of it either, but he still understood near enough every word I said. I wondered - not for the first time - if it was normal for an Arbok to be that intelligent. A look came across his face, as if he was considering the question, then he nodded slowly. Shit.

_"It's probably nothing," _Cerletti reassured me. I chose to believe Naja instead. Not only did I believe that he was more likely to be right, but I also believed that he would be less inclined to lie to make me feel better.

I was about to reply to Cerletti when I heard rapid footsteps behind me. I sidestepped just in time to avoid yet another headbutt from Skyler. I was really starting to loathe the little dragon. I aimed a kick at his face out of sheer anger, but I never landed the kick. Ares zoomed in and picked him up in his six legs. At first I though he was getting Skyler out the way of my kick, but then he shot up much further into the air and dropped Skyler.

"Catch him!" I shouted to Cerletti. I was obviously referring to her telekinetic powers. As much as I loathed him at that moment in time, I didn't want Skyler to die from the drop. Cerletti held her hands out, Skyler started to glow pink and stopped about six feet from the ground. He then dropped and landed unceremoniously in the dirt.

Ares was suddenly perched on my head - which was inappropriate when you took his size and weight into account. I had to struggle to stay upright. He quickly scuttled over and sat on my shoulder, looking me up and down. I was almost certain that he was checking if I was alright. I don't think for a second he was intending to kill Skyler, only to injure him. Unfortunately, Ares wasn't the brightest Pokemon in the world.

"Jesus..." I sighed, returning Skyler to his pokeball. Something had to be done.

* * *

I had the translation collar clutched in one hand and Skyler's pokeball clutched in the other. I dropped the ball and my dragon was released in a flash of light. He tried to go for me again but he suddenly found himself constricted by the length of pure muscle that was Naja. I walked over, collar in my hand, ready to fasten it around his neck.

He opened his mouth wide and shot a pressurized jet of water at me. In fact, no, "jet" isn't an adequate description. "Pillar" would probably be a more appropriate word to use. I threw myself to the floor and the water passed over me, although the spray from the attack soaked my back.

Before he could use another hydro pump attack, I tightened the collar around his neck. Naja also tightened his wrap attack considerably, which would have interrupted the attack had he attempted it.

"Thanks, Naja," I said to the snake, who gave a small nod of acknowledgement in return. I returned him to his pokeball so it was just Skyler and I left, as Ares and Cerletti was also in their balls. I then put on the translation headset, allowing me to understand him. As much as I would have preferred not to use it, I couldn't see any other way with a creature as unreasonable as Skyler.

"That collar lets you understand me," I told him, standing about six feet away from him. Without my other Pokemon out, I was wary of him. I had a size, weight and strength advantage over him, but his head could shatter bones and his hydro pump attack probably could as well. I was confident that I could beat him in a fight, but if I let my guard down, I knew he could, and would actively try to, hurt me.

_"I'm going to kill you," _said a voice from the headset. I was not greatly surprised by this.

"You can try," I told him with false confidence.

_"I will," _he growled.

"You know that Arbok? Naja? The one with that nasty little ice fang attack that had you whimpering on the floor last night? I don't think he'd very happy if you killed me. What do you think?" I asked nastily. I had a hunch that being made to look like a fool wouldn't please the dragon greatly.

_"He doesn't scare me," _Skyler said defiantly.

"D'you want to say that to his face?" I asked, smirking and showing him Naja's pokeball. The dragon didn't reply. "I'll help you get strong. I'll feed you, train you, even let you kill things once in a while, how does that sound?" His eyes lit up at my offer.

_"Why? What do I do in return?" _He asked, distrust in his voice.

"Not much. Stop trying to kill me. Stop trying to attack me. When you get stronger, don't attack the other three. Do what I tell you during certain fights," I replied honestly. He didn't look even remotely impressed by the last part.

_"Do what you say?" _He repeated.

"Only during certain battles. It'll be once a month at the most," I told him. I very rarely, if ever, battled any other trainers besides Gym Leaders, which were getting increasingly difficult to beat.

_"Fine," _he conceded. I didn't by any means trust him, and I figured that he would wait until he was a Salamence and then try to kill us all, but that wouldn't be any time soon. I hoped that he would grow to like me during that time.

We traveled quickly for the rest of the day, trying to get back to Ecruteak before nightfall. The other three were casting glares at Skyler, who was obediently walking beside me now, like a faithful hound. I didn't buy it but it was better than him trying to break my leg.

_"Don't trust him," _Cerletti said through telepathy.

"Not planning to," I muttered into her ear - which was easier now because she was nearly my height by now - quietly enough so that Skyler wouldn't hear me.

_"Good," _Cerletti responded.

Not long after that, we reached Ecruteak. It was dark and I was tired, so I made my way to the Pokemon Center to get a good night's sleep.


	31. Family Issues

Shedding Skins

Chapter Thirty One

Family Issues

* * *

"Room for the night," I said to the nurse behind the desk. She looked at me expectantly. I didn't get what was wrong.

"You have to pay," she finally said.

"What! Why?" Every Center so far had offered me a free stay of up to a week, as it offered every trainer.

"The government have stopped funding us. The League are still funding us, so we can afford to actually remain open, but things like free stays will have to stop," she told me regretfully.

This surprised me. It shouldn't have, after them banning training outright, but it did. I just didn't think that the government would stoop that low.

"Fine," I grumbled, reluctantly fishing the required amount of money out of my pocket. I paid for the room, took my key and made my way up the stairs to find the room.

"Guys," I called as I dropped the four pokeballs on the floor. There were four flashes of light as my team was released and then four pokeballs bounced back up towards me. I managed to catch three of them, which I was proud of. I then dumped my bag on the floor and sat on the edge of the bed, somewhat troubled by the government's latest move.

I drove the thought out of my head and focused on my Pokemon instead. I noticed that at some point, I would not be able to do this anymore. Some day, probably quite soon, my Pokemon would be too large to all be in the room at the one time. Skyler was going to become a Salamence, which I knew were colossal Pokemon, Naja and Ares were already quite large and Cerletti was more or less the size of a Gardevoir - although she still had Kirlia features. It seemed that she should have evolved by now.

I realized that this would be the first time Skyler had slept in the same room as the rest of my team and I.

"Skyler," I called to the rock headed dragon. He turned around to look at me. "You can stay out of your pokeball tonight," I told him. A small smile spread across his face. "But I'm warning you, if you try to attack any of us in our sleep, I'll let these two beat the living crap out of you," I said, gesturing to Ares and Naja, as I knew that they scared him. "And Cerletti won't be healing you," I added. His small smile disappeared.

_"Are you sure you want to trust him this much?" _Cerletti asked me.

"Yeah. He'll be too scared to try anything. And besides, I can't just keep him in his ball all the time," I replied.

_"If you say so," _she said. An idea then formed in my mind.

"Cerletti?"

_"Yes?"_

"Can you try to read this egg's mind? Like you did with Skyler when he was an egg?" I asked, holding out said egg for her.

_"Of course,"_ she replied indignantly. Her eyes started to glow and she stretched out one hand towards the egg. About thirty seconds passed before the glow in her eyes faded and she gave me a puzzled look.

"What is it?" I asked.

_"I can't read its mind. It's immune to my psychic powers. I'm assuming it's a dark type," _she explained. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I had heard lots of things about dark types, both good and bad, although I wasn't sure which stories were fact and which were myths. Just as I was thinking this, I received a text message from Forrest.

_I just got a Torkoal. Win._

I knew that they were only found in the Safari Zone in Cianwood, because Forrest had told me a few months ago, when we had first met. I wanted to kick myself because I had forgotten to visit the Safari zone while I was in Cianwood.

_What's the Safari zone like?_

I replied. I got a reply about a minute later.

_It's amazing. We saw an Arbok the other day and I couldn't help thinking of it as a wild Naja. Marnie caught a Murkrow yesterday, and I nearly caught a Dragonair, but it knocked me out just when i was going to throw a pokeball._

The mention of Marnie reminded me of my last day in Cianwood. I quickly typed a reply.

_What's happening with you and Marnie?_

I waited for about a minute, then received a reply.

_I don't even know. She's acting like it didn't happen, but she's still talking to me and stuff and she hasn't mentioned leaving Cianwood._

I wasn't sure what to think of this. I couldn't imagine Marnie acting that strangely about it. She was usually a straightforward person. We changed the subject and talked about nothing important for a while, before I decided to go to sleep. I climbed into my bed and went to sleep, hoping that Skyler wouldn't try to murder me during the night.

* * *

Thankfully, I was still alive in the morning. I took a shower, got dressed, returned my team and left the Center, handing my key back on the way out.

I didn't really want to go and see my parents, but I felt that I had to. I chapped the door and stood there, just as nervous as I had been the last time, if not more so.

"Eric!" I heard my mom shout from the other side of the door. The door then opened, I was dragged inside by my mom and crushed in a hug. Not ten seconds later, my dad came flying down the stairs and crushed me in a bear hug of his own.

"Are you alright? Where did you go? What happened?" My mom asked worriedly, looking me over for any possible injuries. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she was talking about the temporary training ban.

"I'm fine. I stayed in Cianwood until the ban got lifted," I told her, managing to escape from her death grip of a hug.

"With all the other trainers?" My dad asked.

"Yeah," I replied.

"That doesn't matter now. You're home and you can give up training and keep your Pokemon as pets," my mom said, relieved. The comment just made my blood run cold. Give up? Training was my life. I had survived just over four months on my own while training my Pokemon to battle at the same time. And my Pokemon weren't pets. None of them would be happy if I told them they were to be pets.

I looked to my dad, hoping for him to object. My dad had wanted to be a trainer. It had been his dream in his younger years, surely he would stick up for me?

"That's right. You don't want to go against the government," my dad agreed, crushing my hopes in the process.

"I'm not quitting," I told them quietly. Movement in the house ceased. My mom looked at me with a look of horror on her face, my dad looked at me with a look of rage. My mom was worried for me, hence the look of horror, but I had expected that. What worried me was my dad's rage.

To be frank, my dad was a manly man. He was a man who believed his greatest assets in life were his broad shoulders, big hands and abundance of chest hair. He was a man who would scream and holler at football and boxing on the T.V, usually insulting the sportspeople when they made mistakes. He was a man who believed in old fashioned values.

One of these old fashioned beliefs is that children should obey their parents, regardless of the situation. My dad believed that children should do what they're told, not talk back and not argue. This was a problem.

"We're your parents. We're telling you that you're going to stop training, so you're going to stop training," he said, trying to suppress his rage.

"No I'm not," I told him. I didn't enjoy this. I didn't want to argue with my parents or openly disobey them, but I couldn't just give up training.

"We're still your parents. We're legally responsible for you, and we're not letting you continue!" My dad roared.

"You don't want to go against the government, honey. They don't like trainers. We're making this decision for your own good," my mom said in her usual quiet, polite voice.

"You're not my legal guardians anymore," I told them quietly. "You relinquished those rights when you signed the forms for my trainer's license," I reminded them. "I'm not going to quit," I insisted.

"Do as you're told!" My dad barked, taking a step forward and pulling his hand back to hit me. My father had hit me only twice before in my life. The first time was when I stole something from a shop. My face burned for the rest of the day. I was nine then. The other time was when I was twelve. I talked back to my mother and he hit me twice as hard.

I acted without thinking. As soon as he stepped forward, I dropped all four pokeballs and released my team. I also reached for my knife automatically, but I had stopped carrying it on me after the riots in Olivine. There was suddenly a wall of Pokemon between me and my dad. His look of fury dissolved, and a look of utter betrayal replaced it.

Not only had I talked back to, argued with and disobeyed them, but that action said something else as well. It said that I was even willing to fight them in order to keep training. I had made it perfectly clear that I was going to get my own way.

"So. You've set your Pokemon on me, is that what being a trainer means to you? You can use your Pokemon to threaten people?" He sounded disgusted. Of course, it wasn't that way at all. He was going to hit me. It was self defense. He knew that. He was going to try and guilt me into quitting now. I never thought he would sink so low.

"You're not making this decision for me. I'm going to keep training and there isn't a single thing you can do about it," I told him. I wasn't taunting him, I was simply stating a fact. He seemed to take it as a taunt, though, and started towards me.

Cerletti wasn't having it. She formed a shadow ball in her hands and hurled it at my dad. He sidestepped the projectile, grabbed Cerletti by the throat and threw her into the nearest wall. She slumped to the ground, unconscious. That's when I snapped.

I pushed through Naja and Ares and hurled myself at my dad. He wasn't expecting me to attack him myself, so I had the element of surprise. I pulled my fist back and then rocketed it forward, striking my dad in the face. He stumbled back, clutching one eye and I took that opportunity to hit him again. This time in the mouth. I'm not sure, but I think I might have knocked a tooth out.

He regained his composure after that and landed a punch to my cheekbone that sent me spinning. My dad was bigger, stronger, faster and tougher than me. I had only attacked out of anger - I knew I couldn't beat him in a fight. I looked up at my dad and realized something was wrong. It was then that it occurred to me that I had been knocked to the ground.

My dad was standing tall, triumphant and happy about it too. That was until Skyler broke his knee with a well placed headbutt. I got to my feet - although I had to put a hand on a chair to steady myself - while my dad collapsed, screaming and clutching his broken knee, to the ground. My mom was hysterical, screaming and crying and freaking out.

I returned Ares and Naja, who were waiting to spring into action, but the fighting was well and truly over. I returned Cerletti, who was still slumped against the wall.

"Let's go," I said to Skyler, before turning around and walking from my old house. The dragon had just broken my fathers leg. However, I had never been more fond of him since he hatched.


	32. Back to Goldenrod

Shedding Skins

Chapter Thirty Two

Back to Goldenrod

* * *

Exactly one week later, I had made it back to Goldenrod City. I could have arrived quicker but I took my time and enjoyed the traveling instead.

My plan was to go through Ilex Forrest to get to Azelea Town, where I would - hopefully - get a badge from Eve. Alternately, I could have passed through Violet City to get to Azelea Town, but route thirty-two was huge, and Union Cave didn't seem particularly appealing.

Ideally, I would have made my way through Mahogany Town - without battling Hank - and then go further on to Blackthorn City but route forty-two had stopped me. There were three deep, wide, trenches that blocked my path. I had no Pokemon I could ride on to get over them, other trainers refused when I asked them to ferry me across on one of their Pokemon and swimming across just wasn't an option. Being gored to death by an angry Seaking wasn't a particularly appealing idea.

I was sorely tempted to go through Mt. Mortar to get to Mahogany, but I had heard tales of that place. People who went in there were rarely came back out unscathed, and occasionally somebody would die. I didn't like my chances in Mt. Mortar, so I decided to take either the route through Ilex Forest or Union Cave. Neither of those routes looked appealing, but at least they were passable.

I had decided on Ilex Forest because Goldenrod was on the way, and I had missed the place since I had last been - which was over three months previous. Of course, I just can't seem to get through those three routes - thirty-five, thirty-six and thirty-seven - without being attacked by something. So far, it had been Heracross, Ariados, Drowzee, Yanma, Sudowoodo and Ninetales.

This time it was a Golduck, which we encountered on route thirty-five. Naja, Cerletti and Ares were in their pokeballs, because I wanted to spend some time with Skyler. I still didn't trust the little dragon, but I tried to make him believe that I did. My reasoning was that if he thought I trusted him, maybe he would trust me. It wasn't actually going too badly.

The Golduck climbed out of a small pond to pick a berry from a nearby tree when Skyler attacked. The little dragon actually swam across the pond to reach the much larger duck Pokemon. Skyler had only just mastered his ember attack that afternoon and seemed eager to try it out. Of course, a water Pokemon probably wasn't the best candidate.

The battle - battering or thrashing would probably be more appropriate words, since battle implies that each have a chance of winning - went something like this. Skyler used ember, dealt exactly zero damage and was then knocked into the pond by a water gun attack. The Golduck then went back to picking its berries.

Skyler tried ember again. Predictably, it did not have the desired effect. Instead, the Golduck threw him to the floor and beat him to a pulp. I didn't intervene, as I decided that he had to learn his lesson before he fucked with something really deadly. I did, however, return him before he got seriously injured. He hadn't been happy with me after that.

Anyway, that's how I ended up in Goldenrod. I kicked the door to my room shut behind me before locking it and throwing down all four pokeballs. Of the four that I threw, I managed to catch three as they bounced back up. I was proud of that. I noticed that something was different about my team, however. My Arbok was there. My Yanmega was there. My Bagon was there. My Kirlia was not. In her place stood a Gardevoir.

Her dress thing had grown much longer and now trailed along the floor when she walked. Her limbs had grown longer and more slender and she walked with an elegance she never had as a Kirlia. Her hair had not grown and was now much shorter, not even reaching her shoulders. The horns that had poked out from underneath her hair as a Kirlia were now gone, although two more had formed - one on her back and one on her chest. She also had small spikes that stuck out next to her eyes, giving the impression of a masquerade mask.

_"How do I look?" _I knew it must be Cerletti, but even her voice was different. It was deeper, but quieter and sounded more serious somehow.

"Different. Older," I replied honestly.

_"Thanks," _she replied dryly.

* * *

The Gym was the same as always: a gigantic cube of brick with an old neon sign that simply read "GYM." Underneath the neon sign was a pair of heavy doors, which I was currently standing under. I was eager to visit the Gym again. Out of all the Gyms I had encountered so far, the Goldenrod Gym was my favorite.

I looked around the Gym when I entered and noted that it looked the same as I remembered. A high ceiling with bright, artificial lights, a large arena marked out in the center of the Gym, surrounded by smaller marked arenas. Calendars, timetables, notice boards and posters featuring anything and everything still covered the walls.

The place was crowded, with trainers and Pokemon occupying every arena apart from the bigger one in the middle - which I knew was reserved for official Gym challenges. Trainers who were waiting for a free arena sat on benches that had been set up along the walls, most of them cheering on another trainer who was battling.

I noticed Zach wandering around, shouting out advice to the battling trainers, although not taking part in a battle himself. He looked different. It wasn't just that his arm was no longer in a cast, or that - as if it was possible - he seemed even more massive than before. He looked exhausted. I put it down to the training ban - he had been in Cianwood with most of the other Gym Leaders. He noticed me standing at the entrance and started walking over to me.

"You here for a..." He trailed off. "You're not here for a badge." It was a statement, not a question. "You're the kid that nearly got himself killed in that riot a few months back," he remembered.

"Yeah," I confirmed.

"My Metagross had to save you," he told me.

"I know," I replied.

"How?" He asked, perplexed.

"You know the guy I was with?" He nodded, vaguely remembering Forrest. "He told me," I responded.

"Ah. Well, you here to train then?"

"Yeah."

I had wanted to train anyway, but being in the Gym made me want to train even more. The place smelled of battling - it smelled of sweat, smoke and other things I couldn't identify, like the Ecruteak Gym but without the ground Bayleef buds. Overall, it just had the feel that it had been lived in and battled in.

"Hey," I said to another trainer as I sat down next to him on the bench, waiting for a battle. He gave me a strange look, like he was suspicious of me and replied with a half-hearted "Hey."

I didn't understand. Why did he keep looking at me? It was like he thought I would attack him or something when he wasn't paying attention. I looked to the other trainers on the bench and found that most of them wore similar expressions of distrust that were aimed at the trainers around them. Not many people were talking, and those that were seemed to be familiar with each other. Strangers definitely weren't talking to each other.

As I sat there in silence, I deduced that the training ban had had more of an effect than I had at first thought. My parents had wanted me to quit training - the memory of that unpleasant argument still lingered in the back of my mind - and now trainers were getting suspicious of each other. I made a note to ask Tyson or Raynor the next time I saw them - they would know what the big deal was all about.

After a long time of waiting silently, I got to battle. I didn't really want to anymore - the lack of trust between trainers had soured the atmosphere.

My opponent was a nervous, jumpy two badge trainer. She had only just got her second badge the previous day and had only just managed to scrape a win. She was no match for me. Although I only had one badge more than her, it had been nearly two months since I received my second badge. Those two months had mainly been spent training.

She requested a two on two battle which was fine with me, then released what at first appeared to be a ball of brown fur with a pig's nose and dark striped on its back. It took me a moment to realize that it had legs and eyes, they were just hidden underneath its long fur. I sent out Skyler to fight the Swinub. Naja, Ares or Cerletti could have wiped the floor with it but Skyler was still weaker and I wanted to get him experience.

"Powder snow!" The nervous trainer called. The Swinub appeared to sneeze, and a blue powder with snow flakes in it flew out of its nose and towards Skyler. I didn't need to tell him to dodge. He threw himself to the side, out of the way of the attack, and landed in a crouched position, eyes focused on the little pig Pokemon.

"Hydro pump," I said calmly to him. This was his first trainer battle and I desperately hoped that he would follow my instructions. He didn't even hesitate. He opened his mouth and blasted a pressurized column of water at the Swinub, but the attack missed by a few feet.

"Again!" I said to him, casting a look over at the trainer, who seemed to be too scared to direct her Pokemon. Skyler obliged and repeated the attack, this time missing by inches. He repeated the attack yet again without instruction from me, hitting the Swinub head on and sending it flying far out of the boundaries of the Arena. Its trainer let out a small squeal and returned it.

Out came an orange, black and cream dog - a Growlithe - next. The Swinub had seemed oblivious to what was happening during the battle, but this was not the case with the Growlithe. It stood alert and ready, eyes darting from Skyler to the Arena around it and ears turning towards the sound of other battles. This would not be a pushover.

"Ember...?" Its trainer said quietly, unsure. It didn't take a genius to work out that she had only recently caught this Pokemon. Still, the loyal little dog started bounding towards Skyler, flames starting to dribble from its mouth.

"Hydro pump." Skyler would have hit his target had the canine not stepped nimbly to the side to evade the attack. "Again," I ordered Skyler. He tried but this was a smaller, slower attack that nowhere near as strong. The Growlithe dodged it with ease. I then remembered that hydro pump was a tiring and draining move for a Pokemon to use.

The Growlithe had reached Skyler before I had a chance to think of another command, spitting fire, jaws snapping at Skyler's face and chest. My dragon Pokemon kept it at bay with the same attacks. They quickly realized that fire wasn't very effective and focused instead on biting.

Both were covered in tiny teeth marks but were still fighting viciously. Skyler had tried to headbutt the dog twice, but it was to nimble to hit and would dance away from his steel like skull when it came at it. Skyler managed to hit it with a lucky headbutt, however, that sent it out of the boundaries. Skyler had won, but I had a feeling that he would have lost if the dog had managed to stay in the boundaries.

"Nice work," I praised Skyler, who didn't seem to care in the slightest. I noticed the dog running for Skyler while his back was turned and made to warn him, but the trainer managed to return it. If she had tried giving commands, she might have actually beat Skyler. I would then have sent Naja out to thrash the Growlithe but that was besides the point.

I returned the dragon and turned to walk out of the Gym - I'd had about enough of it, with the long waits with silent trainers and the useless opponents.

"Hey, Linus," someone greeted me as I walked towards the door.

"Hey, Hazel," I replied, smiling.


	33. Training Trip

Shedding Skins

Chapter Thirty Three

Training Trip

* * *

It was stupid. It was insane. It was senseless.

"How long has it been," Hazel asked me, somewhat impatiently. I looked at the time on my phone.

"Fifteen minutes," I replied. "Still forty five minutes to go," I went on. Hazel let out a groan that was interrupted by the train rattling.

What had possessed me to do this was beyond me. I had only ever been to Kanto once before, and I was six, so I could barely remember it. My family was on holiday, and I vaguely recalled the heat of Cinnabar island and the trip back home, nothing else.

"I can't wait to get to Saffron," Hazel said, leaning back against the seat and looking up at the ceiling. I didn't share her sentiments. In fact, I was really wishing I hadn't made such a rash decision, but the train was already on its way and I could exactly ask it to turn around and take me back to Goldenrod - although the idea of jumping out the window of the train was sorely tempting.

"Neither can I," I lied enthusiastically. I was proud of how convincing I had sounded.

The next forty five minutes were filled mainly with small talk and pretending to be excited. It was then that I noticed how little I really knew about Hazel. She wasn't quiet, but nor was she the kind of person that would never shut up. She talked freely, I suppose, but she talked about a lot of nothing mostly. I got the feeling that she didn't want to tell anyone anything about her and after forty five minutes of talking to her, I still knew little more than her name.

I, on the other hand, didn't really care what she did or did not know about me. She seemed reluctant to ask me anything personal, but nevertheless tried to gather answers without making it obvious. I pretended I didn't notice. There was some distrust as well, like the trainers in the Goldenrod Gym, but nowhere near as extreme since we were already familiar with one another.

"We have arrived in Saffron City. Please remember to take all luggage and alight from the train now," a woman's voice said from a speaker above us. Hazel and I pushed through the crowd and managed to squeeze through the tiny door of the train, stepping out into the Saffron train station. It looked basically identical to that of Goldenrod.

When we stepped outside, I noticed that the place bore a resemblance to Goldenrod as a whole. The same wide streets, huge skyscrapers and gigantic crowds of permanently rushing people. The resemblance to Goldenrod calmed my nerves.

I found myself wondering what kind of effect the training ban had in Kanto. Johto and Kanto used to share a government, but they'd had a big disagreement about twenty years ago which led to separate governments for the two regions. The training ban wouldn't have applied to Kanto, but people must have heard about it and trainers from Kanto would not have been happy about it.

Despite the government split, Kanto and Johto still shared a Pokemon League: Indigo Plateau.

"It's like Goldenrod," Hazel remarked as she stared up at the skyscrapers, mirroring my thoughts exactly.

"Yeah, so where to?" I asked her.

"The Pokemon Center?" She asked. It seemed like a good enough idea.

"Let's go," I agreed. We walked to the center of Saffron City, hoping to find the Pokemon Center on our way. We weren't so lucky. We did, however, find the Silph Co. office building: an eleven floor behemoth of a tower that made the Radio Tower in Goldenrod look tiny.

"Okay, I'm lost. Any ideas where the Pokemon Center is?" Hazel asked. A bit late for that, seeing as we had already wandered around Saffron for a good half an hour.

"No," I replied. "Hey, you know where the Center is?" I called to a trainer who looked like he knew where he was going.

"That way," he called back, pointing south. "Near the city gate," he added before continuing on his way.

"Thanks!" I shouted to the retreating trainer before making my way to the Center, Hazel walking alongside me. We walked for another ten minutes or so until we found the Center and gladly went inside.

We got a room each and then headed upstairs to said rooms for a while. I let my team out to roam and then jumped in for a quick shower as usual. I sat on the bed, thinking of how rash I had been and cursing myself for it while idly playing about with my three badges.

That then got me thinking of my last Gym battle. It had seemed so long ago and I quickly worked it out in my head. I was astounded to find that it had been nearly two whole months since I had last got a badge and resolved to challenge the nearest Gym Leader as soon as I returned to Johto.

I lay down on the bed and turned on the T.V - there was a comedy playing that I vaguely remembered. Cerletti sat down next to me, and I soon had my entire team squashed onto the bed. Ares was lying across Cerletti and I, Naja was draped over the three of us and Skyler sat atop him, looking a very small, reptilian king on a throne. The egg even got a place, tucked safely in the crook of my left arm - the right was pinned under someone.

"I can't see the T.V," I complained to them. "And I can't feel my legs." They paid me no attention. "Guys?" Again, I was ignored. I decided to give up and endure it instead.

"Hey, you in there?" Came Hazel's voice, accompanied by a knock at the door.

"Yeah," I called to her, and tried to struggle out from under the dogpile of Pokemon to open the door. In the end, it just didn't work. "The door's open!" She entered and looked around the room, caught sight of me - and my team - and burst out laughing. She didn't stop for quite a while.

"Need any help?" She asked while stifling a laugh.

"No." I tried again to slither out from under the pile of bodies. "Yes." I changed my mind. She picked their pokeballs up off the floor and returned them one by one.

After escaping from my team, we headed back out into Saffron and wandered, looking for something worthwhile to do. Eventually, after looking for around an hour, we found the fighting Dojo.

It was essentially a large, square room with wooden floors and walls heavily decorated with scrolls. It was quite unremarkable, especially for a former Gym.

"Welcome!" Someone called over to us. I turned around to see someone coming towards us. He was a huge, terrifying mass of muscles, dressed in karate gear, but he loped towards us with a bright smile plastered on his face. The result was completely bizarre.

"Uhh...Hey," I managed. Hazel managed a grunt of acknowledgement.

"This is the Saffron Fighting Dojo, are you here to train with us?" The delighted smile was still on his face. If it wasn't for the bulging muscles, I wouldn't have been able to imagine this man hitting anything.

"Yeah, I guess," Hazel answered.

"Great! I'm Harry, and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me or one of the other black belts," he smiled.

"I have one. Why do you all use fighting types?" Hazel asked, gesturing to the other trainers in the room. All of the Fighting Dojo trainers were using fighting types, only the visiting trainers like ourselves using any other type.

"Well, there are many reasons, for example, they are martial artists just like ourselves," Harry grinned. I was beginning to wonder if he had ever frowned. "They're also very loyal," he went on.

"More loyal than other Pokemon types?" I asked, intrigued. A thoughtful look crossed his face, like he was trying to recall something.

"For the most part. Studies have shown that different Pokemon types generally have different temperaments," he explained.

"And fighting types turned out to be the most loyal?" Hazel asked, a look on her face that said she thought this was total bull.

"Fighting, psychic and dark types turned out to be the most loyal, with dragons coming a close second," he replied. "But dragons are also one of the most likely Pokemon to turn on you and kill you," he added. I thought about Skyler and grew nervous.

"How can they be one of the most loyal, but also one of the most willing to kill you?" I asked, perplexed.

"If you treat a dragon with respect and raise it well, it will end up very loyal to you. Mistreat it over a long period of time and it will burn you to a crisp," he explained.

"What are the most likely types to turn on you and kill you?" Hazel asked, still not really buying it. I didn't see any reason not to believe him.

"Ghosts. If you treat them right then they'll tolerate you, but if not, they'll try to kill you, usually. Even experienced trainers are cautious when raising them. Very cautious."

"What other types?" I asked.

"Bug types. They're not angry Pokemon like dragons, or downright murderous like ghosts, they're just...Chaotic. Most are very hard to train and prone to violence. Most are never fully tamed and remain at least a little wild," he told us. I thought about Ares. He was somewhat Chaotic, and could be violent when training, but not in general.

"What about poison types?" Hazel and I asked at the same time. I glanced at her, surprised. Harry looked like he was trying to recall something again.

"It's hard to gain they're trust. They rarely turn on their trainer, preferring to simply escape from them, which they tend to be very good at doing," he answered. "Why?" He added, probably noticing how we had asked the question in unison.

"My starter was an Ekans," I replied. Not technically true, but close enough.

"Mine was a Seviper," Hazel explained.

"Ah. Any more questions?"

"No," Hazel and I answered, once again, at once and then went to train.


	34. The Season of Goodwill

Shedding Skins

Chapter Thirty Four

The Season of Goodwill

* * *

Author's Note : I know updates have been few and far between recently but I'll try to get back on track. Anyway, here's a Christmas chapter for you to - hopefully - enjoy, even though it's a little early.

* * *

We spent the next two weeks in Saffron, mostly training at route eight and, on one occasion, the Saffron Gym. It was relaxing, and for those two weeks, I entirely forgot about the situation back in Johto. It was nice, not having to worry.

Naja seemed to have regained his appetite for battling. He didn't learn any new attacks and his strength and speed didn't improve as much as I had hoped, but he had something better. When he was battling, he would watch his opponent and try to predict their next move. He was getting much better at it and his anticipation was so good that he would sometimes start to react just a little before the opponent made their move.

Skyler could now spout those familiar blue-green flames, just like Tyson's Dragonair or Shenzi's Flygon. Yes, Skyler had learned dragonbreath. It seemed that nothing could stop those flames - even water didn't seem to work, which thoroughly confused me. A more significant change had taken place, however. Skyler was no longer a small lizard, he was a large ball of armor - he had evolved into a Shelgon.

There were no real developments as far as Ares was concerned. He learned feint, but that was useless for the most part. He also became faster and stronger, but that was to be expected - he was still training as rigorously as usual. He had become the strongest member of my team, but I had been expecting that for a while, it was no surprise.

Cerletti, unfortunately, had improved little, if at all. She seemed to be taking the same kind attitude as Naja had back in Cianwood. She was showing no interest in battling and more often stayed and talked to me telepathically while the others trained. I wasn't really bothered since she was still a strong Pokemon, and it wasn't like I was going to force her into training if she was opposed to it.

The egg also decided to hatch about this time, which was fine because I was really starting to get sick of carrying it about. It hatched into a Cacnea. Apparently Cerletti had been wrong about it being a dark type, but it did evolve into one, which may have had something to do with it. It didn't do a whole lot, just sat there, photosynthesizing or whatever.

Hazel had an impressive team. Her Magmar had immediately been drawn towards Skyler. From what Hazel told me, the reptile was a lot like Skyler - cruel, violent and generally dark. It still had a large scar from Ares' bug bite during our battle in Cianwood.

Her Seviper seemed to get along well enough with Naja. I wouldn't say they were friends, like Skyler and the Magmar, it was more like they tolerated each other. It was more aggressive but not as intelligent as my Arbok. Personally, I would rather have a smarter Pokemon than a more aggressive one.

Somehow, somewhere, Hazel had managed to get herself a Hitmonlee. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit jealous. In fact, a lot jealous would be a better way of describing my feelings. I had seen it in action and I was convinced that it could completely shatter my spine with a single kick. I'm not sure why, but it seemed to hate Cerletti. Not a problem since she could decimate the thing in a fight.

She went to route seven a couple of days after we arrived and caught - after hours of lying in wait at night - a Murkrow. It was always stealing our things and either hiding them or ruining them. It dropped Hazel's phone in the nearest body of water it could find, and she near enough throttled the thing. She insisted that it would be worth it when she earned its trust, though, and persevered. As far as I could see, her effort did not pay off.

So we trained for a couple of weeks, relaxing while our Pokemon beat the living crap out of any living thing that they found.

* * *

"Wake up!" I recognized the voice as Hazel's.

"What?" I groaned, rolling over to look at her. My eyes narrowed in confusion for a second when I saw her. Her hair was a mess and she was sloppily dressed - she had clearly just woke up[ and got dressed in a hurry. Well, at least she was wearing more than underwear, unlike myself. There was a broad smile on her face and a Santa hat on her head, complete with flashing lights.

"What?" I repeated, brain not quite working right at this time in the morning.

"Open it!" She squealed with excitement, gesturing at the present that I had neglected to notice. I had never before seen Hazel this energetic. It was unnerving, she was supposed to be permanently confident and calm, she was not supposed to be acting like a four year old simply because it was Christmas.

I had personally never been all that into Christmas. I just saw it as the birth of a religious figure I had never really believed in. I had loved it when I was a kid, just like everyone else, but as I got older, I wanted presents less. Instead, I had started longing for a Pokemon and trainer's license, neither of which I would get for Christmas seeing as I was too young.

"It's Christmas?" I asked stupidly, rubbing sleep out of my eyes and yawning.

"No, it's Easter," she deadpanned. My brain only just managed to catch onto the sarcasm. Neither of us did anything for the next few seconds. "For God's sake..." Hazel muttered, picking up the gift and dropping it on my chest. I really had no choice but to open it now. I tore the wrapping paper off sluggishly, nearly knocking the present over in my tiredness.

By the time I had fully unwrapped the present, I was mostly awake. It was a box with four brilliantly shining stones inside. One green, one red, one blue and one yellow. Leaf stone, fire stone, water stone and thunder stone. They would come in very useful if I ever caught a Pokemon that required one of these to evolve.

"It's nothing big, but it's the thought that counts, right?" She asked cheerily. I had to take a moment to truly think about how differently she was acting. I would never have described her as cheery before.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"Shit! My Pokemon are still in my room!" She ran out the door and nearly fell.

As soon as she was out of the room, I jumped from my bed and pulled on a pair of dirty jeans and my jacket, before slipping my shoes on and waking Cerletti. My team usually slept outside of their pokeballs.

"Game Corner, quickly," I told her. She nodded, took my hand in hers and we vanished.

When we reappeared, we were standing in a small room with three windows in it, salespeople behind them. We had visited the Game Corner in Celadon while Hazel waited for hours to catch her Murkrow.

"Pikachu," I said hurriedly to the man behind one of the windows, handing over the required amount of money. It was overly expensive but I could afford it and, more importantly, couldn't think of anything else. He rummaged below the counter and handed me a pokeball. "Thanks." Cerletti took my hand again and we were back in my room at the Pokemon Center.

I heard footsteps coming towards my room and stuffed the pokeball in my pocket. I quickly kicked off my shoes and threw my jacket on the floor, leaving me just in my jeans, looking like I had just got out of bed and put them on. There was no hint that I had just been at the game corner. She came back into my room and I pulled a white t-shirt on.

"Got them," she said, showing me the four pokeballs lying in her arms.

"Well, here's another one," I said, taking out the new pokeball and tossing it to her. She managed to catch it, but nearly dropped all her other pokeballs in the process. "I got it yesterday but forgot to wrap it," I lied. I don't think she even heard me, she was too focused on the pokeball. Probably trying to work out what was inside it.

She dropped the pokeball and stared intently at the forming creature until it was recognizable. Her scream of delight could have shattered crystal. She tried to pick it up but it shocked her and scampered under the covers of the bed. She returned it.

"My present seems crappy now," she frowned, stuffing all five of her pokeballs in her pockets.

"At least your present didn't shock me," I replied.

We quickly got washed dressed, then met back up and ventured outside. I didn't understand what was going on at first. Maybe a dozen trainers were spread out in front of the Center, all with a Pokemon or two out, all of them ice types. They ranged from a Frosslass that was no taller than waist height to a Mamoswine that was taller than me.

"Ready?" A trainer in the middle called to all the others. There were general nods of agreement. "Right...Three...Two...One...Now!"

I was suddenly blinded by white as the biggest, fiercest blizzard I had ever seen swirled around us. It took me off my feet, sent me sliding across the snow that now covered the ground and into the wall of the Center. I wasn't sure how long it went on for, but it seemed like a long time. Then again, it could have been as little as ten seconds. I don't really know.

The trainers returned their Pokemon after the blizzard had calmed and made their way back inside the Center. Every part of the city that I could see was draped in a blanket of snow. I wondered if trainers regularly did this kind of thing. For all I knew, all the snow I had ever seen may have been created by Pokemon in the same manner as this.

"So, where -" I started, but I was interrupted by a snowball hitting the side of my head.

"You don't even want to start this," I warned Hazel, who was doubled over laughing. She took no notice of my warning, so I quickly formed my own snowball while she was still laughing and lobbed it at her. It hit the top of her head and broke apart, getting snow in her hair and eliciting a scream of surprise.

"All right then," she said, shaking snow from her hair and lobbing another snow ball at me.

* * *

"Why did we have to have a snowball fight?" I complained, hugging my knees. Our snowball fight had left us wet, cold and snowy. I had snow in my hair, down my back, in my shoes and just about everywhere else. Well, I'd had snow in those places until it had melted, at any rate.

"It was worth it," Hazel said. Her teeth were chattering.

"I disagree," I replied. We were sitting under a tree in route eight, trying not to let the cold drive us insane. Skyler could venture out into the cold of the route because of armor-shell. It seemed to keep out anything and everything, including snow, water and cold. Hazel's Hitmonlee was braving the cold as well, although he was not faring nearly as well as Skyler, who was happily maiming the wild Pokemon of the area with his newly discovered dragonbreath.

"I think I'll go back to Johto after this. It's been ages since I beat a Gym," she told me. I was disappointed.

"I think I'll stay for a little while longer," I remarked, trying to make a snowball with my numb hands. I was really starting to like Saffron. It was like Goldenrod, but nicer and more interesting.

"Why? You can't win any badges here. Well, unless you restart the Gym circuit here, but I don't think you'll do that," she said.

"I could restart in Kanto?" I asked, interest piqued.

"Yeah. You have, what, three badges?" She asked. I nodded. "Well you can't just get five here and enter the League. You need to get all eight badges from a single region to enter the League, so you'd have to restart the Circuit."

"The first three would be a breeze for me anyway." I already had Pokemon that could compete on three or four badge level, so it would be easy at first.

"Yeah, they would, but I don't think you'll restart," she replied.

"I would miss Johto too much," I agreed. The idea of restarting was appealing, but I figured I would regret it once the novelty wore off.

"Can't you do something to heat us up?" Hazel whined to her Magmar. "You can spit fire. In fact, just bring that tail flame closer to us," she continued. It didn't understand her request, so it kicked some snow at us instead. That was exactly the kind of thing Skyler would have done if he wasn't away crippling other Pokemon.

"That was ideal," I said. She didn't miss my sarcasm.

"Why are your Pokemon so well behaved?" She said in response. I scoffed.

"Ares is probably a mental case. I genuinely think he has paranoia," I explained. She let out a laugh. "I can tell that Naja secretly insults me. He would probably voice his opinions if I could understand him," I went on, glancing at the sleeping form of said snake, who was a few feet away. "And Skyler is probably chewing off the heads of Growlithe puppies as we speak," I finished.

"At least your Gardevoir's normal," she replied.

"Yeah," I agreed. "But at least your Seviper's normal."

"I suppose," she conceded. "Right, I'm going now," she said rather suddenly, standing up and brushing the snow from her jacket.

"I'll stay here a little longer," I responded.

"Bye then," she said, returning her Pokemon and walking back towards Saffron.

I leaned back against the tree and managed to fall asleep despite the cold. It wasn't a particularly comfortable sleep but I welcomed it nonetheless. I'm sure I dreamed during the sleep but, like with most dreams, I couldn't remember them when I woke up. The only thing I remembered was that I had been dreaming.

I was eventually woken up by Cerletti, who used some kind of psychic thing to wake me.

"Hey," I said, shivering from the cold. I figured that it was about time I went back to the Center to heat up.

_"I don't really want to train," _she said to me through telepathy.

"Don't then. It's not like I can force you to," I replied.

_"You don't understand," _even in my head, her voice sounded regretful.

"What?" Even as I was saying this, her meaning became clear. My breath caught in my throat and my blood ran cold.

_"I want to be released."_


	35. The Downhill Curve

Shedding Skins

Chapter Thirty Five

The Downhill Curve

* * *

Losing my Chikorita had been brutal and somewhat traumatizing, but I had got up and kept going. It hadn't kept me down.

Losing Wreck was both harder and easier. I had bonded with him, even named him, which got me more attached to him, which was why it had been more painful. At the same time though, at least he was still alive, so it was less painful in that respect.

Losing Cerletti blew the other two out the water. I had bonded a little with Wreck, but he hadn't really been part of the team. Cerletti was. When she left, I felt like a piece of me had just shriveled up and died. I had never lost a family member before, but this is what I figured it would be like. The fact that she was still alive and well did little to console me.

It had not been a long farewell. She had told me she wanted to be released, I told her she was free to do so. She told me how she would miss me and how she would never forget me, I told her the same. Then she vanished. Where she was planning to go, I had no idea.

It wasn't enough. That kind of thing can't be described in a handful of words. I didn't even have time to organize the hundreds - maybe thousands - of things I needed to say to her since it was so sudden.

What brought on her sudden decision? The fact that she didn't want to have to fight for her whole life, which was perfectly understandable. She said that she simply wanted to go out and really experience life. Her life with me had consisted of little more than fighting and talking to me. I didn't blame her for her decision. I knew I would do the same if the roles were reversed.

I returned to the Center, collapsed on the bed and let fly with the tears. I wasn't particularly embarrassed - this was a place and a time for tears. I don't know how long I wept for, but it was long enough for a good portion of the snow outside to melt. I eventually ran out of tears to cry and forced myself into getting up.

Hazel had left. She had left a note in my room that told me she'd decided to go back to Johto. She thanked me for her present, thanked me for my company, thanked me for going with her in the first place and said she'd track me down again sooner or later. I was glad she was gone. The loss of Cerletti was something that I wanted - no, needed - to experience on my own.

By on my own, I really mean it. I didn't even release any of the other members of my team for the rest of that day. Christmas day. How cheery.

I stayed in Saffron for only one more day after that, and that was simply because the willpower to do anything had been sucked from me. I was not compelled to do anything. I didn't even eat. I forced myself to the day after and trudged onto the magnet train as it made its way to Johto.

It reminded me of our arrival in Saffron. They were better times. Times where Cerletti was still there.

I bought a room in Goldenrod when we went back, still living like a zombie. Doing tasks, but not thinking about them, not caring about them. I really didn't see how I would ever be able to do anything ever again, without Cerletti there.

I forced myself into eating and sleeping and letting my Pokemon out. Ares figured something was wrong and was constantly crawling all over me, trying to find the source of the problem. It took all of my self control not to scream at him and hit him. I knew he had my best interests at heart, but I couldn't have cared less. His best intentions didn't bring Cerletti back.

Naja, with his freakish intelligence, obviously noticed what was going on, but left me to my own devices. It wasn't that he didn't care - I often caught him looking my way, only for him too look in the opposite direction when I saw him - but that he had enough sense to figure out that I would rather be left alone.

Skyler didn't care. The only thing he cared about was the lack of small creatures that he could kill, since I didn't bring them out training. I couldn't bear to do it.

Even the Cacnea - which I still hadn't named - showed more interest than Skyler. It looked at everything - especially me - with a curious look, as if it was trying to figure out what was wrong but just couldn't grasp it.

I was bombarded with text messages from Forrest, Marnie and Tyson, and even a few from Raynor and - strangely - Damian. Apparently I hadn't been receiving their texts over in Kanto. I didn't care and I didn't reply to them. Instead, I threw my phone as hard as I could off of the nearest wall, simply out of anger, frustration and sadness, cracking the screen.

* * *

"Get up." I was talking to myself, demanding that I get out of bed. It was exactly one week after Cerletti's departure and I was feeling only marginally better.

"Fucking get up," I growled to myself. I was trying to coax myself into doing something. Despite feeling little better about the whole thing, I was thinking much more clearly. I was desperate to do something so that I could try to forget about Cerletti. It wasn't working. Every second thought in my head was interrupted by the image of Cerletti vanishing from my life, probably forever.

I had returned all my Pokemon apart from Naja. Ares was driving me insane, I felt sick whenever I looked at the monstrosity that I called Skyler and the Cacnea was just a complete non entity. Naja was the only normal one. As much as I knew he probably thought of me as inferior, he was still my first true Pokemon - the Chikorita didn't really count - and nothing would ever change that. Ever.

I forced myself to get up, forced myself to take a shower - which I was in desperate need of - and forced myself to get dressed. I looked at my three badges, pinned to the leg of my jeans. The colorful little pieces of metal that had meant so much to me before now felt suddenly pointless. I resisted the urge to throw them into the nearest bin.

I packed up and left the room key on the bed. I then returned Naja to his Pokeball and dropped the Cacnea's, releasing it. It looked around a little and then settled its gaze on me.

"Let's go," I said to it, turning around and starting to walk. It didn't understand my words, but it followed me regardless, hobbling along on its two short, stubby, spike-like legs.

We walked through the lobby, getting a few strange looks from trainers. I knew I probably looked like hell.

I was surprised to find that it was night when I ventured outside. I had been under the impression that it was morning for some reason. Just goes to show how little attention I had paid to everything since Cerletti left.

I didn't know where I wanted to go. I had decided to leave Goldenrod simply so that I had something to do. After all, I couldn't just stay in a Pokemon Center for the rest of my life.

I decided that I might as well go to Azelea, seeing as I had beaten the Ecruteak and Violet Gyms already. I took a shortcut through an alleyway, heading towards route thirty four, when a fist came out of nowhere and collided with my face. I stumbled into the wall, one hand flying to my face, the other flying to my pocket for my pokeballs.

"Don't think so," my assailant hissed, cracking an elbow into my jaw. I dropped like a sack of bricks. My mind was screaming at me to release my team, but my body was too preoccupied with the pain in my face.

I felt the attacker grab me by the collar and I was hauled to my feet and pushed against the wall. I managed to focus my eyes and saw a blade inches from my face.

"You got money?" The attacker held his knife a little closer to me. It was a tiny little switchblade. My knife was twice the size. I had managed to drag my mind away from the pain in my face, and thought about how I could get out of this. I could have reached towards my pocket for my pokeballs, but I reached for my knife instead. Unfortunately for me, I had stopped carrying my knife with me after almost stabbing Damian. That fact temporarily escaped my notice.

"Hey!" The attacker pressed the blade to my face, although not hard enough to draw blood. He had noticed me moving to get my knife, which was tucked away, out of my reach inside my bag. I was really starting to wonder if I would die, when my assailant let out a scream and dropped his knife before dropping to the floor himself. I felt the knife make a small incision as it fell, but I managed to ignore.

My Cacnea had stabbed one of its arm spikes into the attacker's calf. The spike was dripping with a purple liquid. Poison sting.

"Fucker!" He screeched, throwing a wild punch that caught my Cacnea in the eye. It fell and rolled from him. He got to his hands and knees, but I didn't let him get any further. I took a step forward and soccer kicked him in the face, breaking his nose and sending blood cascading to the ground. Crude but effective.

He fell back onto his side and my Cacnea went for him again. It landed atop him and raised an arm, the spikes dripping with poison, to strike him. The attacker wouldn't go down so easily.

I noticed too late that the knife was back in his hand, and noticed even later that it was arcing towards the Cacnea. It penetrated the plant like skin of his head and sent green blood spraying everywhere. It was probably dead before it even knew what was happening.

A wave of fury rushed through me, made worse by the state of mind I had been in already. I brought my heel down hard on the hand that his knife was clutched in. He screamed and let go of the knife, but I twisted my heel and broke some of his fingers anyway. I brought my foot up and stomped on the hand again, eliciting another scream from him.

"Come on," he sobbed.

I stomped down on his ribs.

"Don't," he pleaded.

I swung my foot into his jaw.

"Please," he begged.

I continued to kick him. I think I kicked every square inch of his body, punishing him for what he had just done and taking all of my anger, frustration and hate out on him. I was perfectly aware how badly I was injuring him. I injured him so badly that he ceased to breathe. I panicked, but I wasn't sorry.

I reached into my pocket and retrieved Ares' and Skyler's Pokeballs. I released Skyler first. I knew he would love this.

"Dragonbreath," I commanded, pointing a trembling finger at the corpse of the scumbag. He didn't need told twice and incinerated it within seconds. I returned him before releasing Ares.

"Fly," I said, climbing onto his back.


	36. Rock Bottom

Shedding Skins

Chapter Thirty Six

Rock Bottom

* * *

Ares could carry me on his back while flying, but not for long. That didn't really matter, he made up for his lack of stamina with his speed. When he was too tired to carry me, we were already deep inside Ilex Forest.

I wasn't worried about getting caught. The Goldenrod police were permanently swamped with murders, rapes, kidnappings, armed robberies and God only knew what else. The disappearance of a single scumbag wouldn't draw much attention, if any. They would probably ignore and be glad that there was one less criminal in their city. There was no doubt in mind that attacking me would not have been his first offence.

We sat in a small clearing in the dark forest, the four of us - Naja, Ares, Skyler and myself - huddled around the small, blue-green fire that Skyler had lit. It gave off an almost unnatural heat.

We were sharing a tin of canned meat that I had dug out of my bag. It had probably been sitting in there for too long and it tasted a lot like ground cardboard but I was hungry so I ate it. I had to share it with the other three because there was a prominent lack of adequate meals. The bugs were too small to make a decent meal and the birds stayed high up in the trees. The water Pokemon weren't even worth considering.

Naja wasn't happy. His neck was slightly arched and his mouth was open a little. He looked like he wanted to kill something. He looked like he wanted to kill me.

"What?" I asked him, arching an eyebrow. He simply hissed in response. I took a brief moment to appreciate how frustrating it must be to understand but not able to be understood. I reached into my bag and put the translating headset on. "What?" I repeated.

_"You've been absolutely miserable for at least the past week," _the headset translated.

"And that's not any of your business," I replied. This simply made him angrier. I could tell that he wanted to drench me in acid, but was restraining himself.

_"Of course it is. You're not telling us things you should be telling us. They're things that affect us and we should know what they are," _he argued.

"I won't let them affect you, you don't need to know," I lied. The last thing I wanted to do was discuss things with anyone, even the creature that I trusted more than any other. I was expecting him to call me an idiot and demand that he be told what was going on, but he surprised me, yet again.

_"You've never been secretive before," _he said, then gave me a strange look. I understood what he was trying to say without him saying it. He was making it clear that it was my decision to tell him or not, and that I should do the right thing. I was taking moral lessons from a snake, and not for the first time.

"You're smart. Can't you work out what it is that's happened? That would be so much easier," I complained.

_"When I'm inside that little ball, I can't know what's going on in the outside world. Regardless of my intellectual gifts, I am not omniscient," _he explained. _"I have noticed the obvious, though. Cerletti isn't here,"_ he went on._ "And that plant doesn't seem to be here either," _he added as an afterthought.

"Cerletti left. She wanted to be released," I said bluntly. He nodded as if he had seen that coming. "The Cacnea was just killed by a man that tried to mug me," I explained. A troubled look crossed his reptilian face. He gave me another look. Prompting me to continue. "So I killed him. I had Skyler burn the body and Ares fly us out here." I didn't miss the proud look that Skyler wore on his partially hidden face.

_"You...Actually killed him?" _For the first time since I had known him, Naja was at a loss for what to do. He just sat there, giving me a look that was somewhere between confused an disappointed. This angered me.

"He killed the Cacnea!" I blurted, standing up and glaring at him.

_"And he deserved to die, but it's not your place to carry out the execution," _he responded.

"Like you can talk! You kill things every day!"

_"I kill once or twice a week out of necessity. I need to eat or I will die. I do not enjoy killing." _He cast a purposeful glance back at Skyler. I gathered from that look just how little he thought of the Shelgon.

"I didn't enjoy killing either!" I wasn't sure if that was true. The fact that I had just killed someone made me feel sick to my stomach, but I did think he deserved it and in some sick, twisted way, I thought what I had done was at least partially right. On the other hand, there was no excuse for what he had done in my eyes.

_"You don't really believe that, do you?" _He was, to an extent, right.

"Who do you think you are? Why should I be taking moral advice from you?" I demanded.

_"Who would you rather take it from? Skyler?" _I didn't have a response to this, so I just glared at him. _"I'm offering 'moral advice' because you need it."_

"Shut up!" I roared, pointing a finger at him. I was about three seconds from punching him.

_"Will you kill me if I don't?" _This sent me over the edge.

I dived at him and aimed a punch at his face. That's when I found out that punching a snake is no small feat. He simply weaved around my arm and slammed his thick, muscular tail into my ribs, sending me stumbling back against a tree. I was lucky that all of my ribs were still intact.

_"I should leave right now, after what you just did," _he hissed in my face.

"Why don't you then? Why fucking not?" I screamed, ready to hit him again.

_"Fine." _I didn't even try to stop him as he slithered out of the clearing.

* * *

I think that was one of the lowest points in my life. I had hit rock bottom then kept falling.

To be honest, I wasn't even sure if I wanted to continue training. Those badges seemed more meaningless than ever, and I was only continuing with the whole training thing because I couldn't think of anything else to do with my life.

We were cooking a Pidgey over the fire. Skyler had managed to snipe it out of the sky with a hydro pump attack - the pressurized jet of water had killed it instantly. It had also severely mangled the tiny bird.

It was the day after Naja's departure and I could tell we were getting close to Azelea. Either that or we had circled and were getting close to Goldenrod. Whatever it was, we were getting close to civilization again.

I was chewing on some badly cooked Pidgey meat when my phone beeped at me. Not the first time since I had returned, but I decided to actually read and reply to this one.

_We haven't heard from you for three weeks. Stop ignoring us and tell us where you are and if you're alright. I don't like having to repeat the same thing in two dozen different messages._

It was Marnie. I was somewhat surprised - the majority of the text messages sent to me were from Tyson or Forrest. I reluctantly started typing a reply.

_Sorry, I was training in Kanto and didn't get any of your texts until now._

It was untrue but she wouldn't know that.

_Where are you?_

I typed my reply.

_Ilex Forest._

"Hey," said a sarcastic, cynical voice that I recognized all too well. The only problem was that her presence here was impossible.

"Marnie?" I turned around and saw that I was indeed right, however, Forrest was there as well, holding her hand in his left, and holding a Xatu's wing in his right. Teleportation.

"I exist too," Forrest commented.

"You're funny," I replied. I didn't mean for it to come off as snide, but it did anyway. I was about to apologize, but Forrest spoke first.

"Where's the rest of your team?" He asked, gesturing towards my team. He probably figured they were inside their pokeballs and was just trying to make conversation.

"That's my whole team right there," I said. Forrest and Marnie seemed to sense that there was something not right.

"Where's your Arbok? Naja, is it?" Marnie asked slowly, thinking.

"He left."

"What about...Cerletti?" This time it was Forrest speaking. He spoke as if he wasn't sure he had got the name right.

"She left."

"Do you still have the egg?" Forrest again.

"It hatched into a Cacnea, but I don't have that anymore either," I explained.

"Did it leave as well?" Marnie asked, confusion washing over her features. In a manner of speaking, yes it did, but that wasn't my answer.

"No." I didn't really want to explain what happened, but they asked anyway.

"Then where is it?" The two of them asked in unison. I exhaled deeply.

"It's dead. Someone stabbed it." There was no point in lying. They looked at each other with worried expressions on their faces. "It was a random bastard that tried to mug me," I told them before they had a chance to ask.

"Why did the other two leave?" Marnie asked hesitantly. She wanted to know but she didn't want to ask.

"Cerletti just didn't want to be a trained Pokemon anymore. Naja and I had an argument and he left yesterday," I answered bluntly.

"Are you sure you're okay? I mean, you've just lost three Pokemon," Forrest asked cautiously.

"Of course I'm not okay. I don't remember claiming to be." I didn't mean for this to sound harsh either, but it happened nonetheless.

"You don't have to travel, Linus," Forrest said, changing the subject and completely ignoring my outburst. "We have a teleporter here," he elaborated, gesturing to the Xatu. I didn't know if it belonged to him or Marnie. I didn't really care either.

"I want to travel. It's making me fell better, some time alone." That was hint to them, I didn't want to talk to them. Marnie caught my drift but Forrest didn't.

"Okay, we'll -" She started but was cut off by Forrest.

"We're just worried about you. You're our friend and...like..." He didn't seem to be able to find the words that he needed. I noticed that he was holding Marnie's hand in a tighter grip. Were they going out now? It seemed possible. In fact it seemed improbable that they wouldn't be, considering they had appeared together and were holding hands.

This penetrated the angry, frustrated, upset, confused haze that had settled over my mind.

"I get it, I know you care, but what I want is to be left alone," I said, without malice this time. Forrest didn't want to leave it at that, but he didn't have much choice in the matter, as Marnie made the decision for them.

"We'll leave you alone then, but we'll get back in touch soon, alright?" That sounded like a fair proposal to me.

"Alright," I agreed, and watched them as they laid their hands on the Xatu, ready to return to wherever they were before.

_"You must be careful," _a voice echoed in my head, just a fraction of a second before the three of them blinked out of existence. I couldn't comprehend it for a few seconds. Had that Xatu just tried to warn me about something?


	37. Eventual Progress

Shedding Skins

Chapter Thirty Seven

Eventual Progress

* * *

Azelea was a quiet town, where not much of anything ever happens. It was inhabited mainly by old people, beginning trainers and an unusually high population of Slowpoke. It was a sleepy town - that probably sums it up best. The town's sleepiness was a good thing - I needed calmness, not the excitement that a large city would offer.

I walked quickly into the Center and paid for a room for the night. I noticed that my money supply was starting to deplete. Brilliant. Somebody up there simply did not like me.

I dumped my bag and went in for a shower as usual and headed back outside. It was mid day, and although the sun was at its height, there was a very definite chill in the air.

I approached the double doors of the brick like Gym building and hesitated. It had been a long time since I had actually won a badge. How long had it been? Two months? I swallowed my fear, pushed through the doors and into the Gym and walked into...Myself?

I couldn't wrap my mind around this and I stared until it dawned on me; I had walked into my own reflection. Everywhere I looked, in fact, I could see my own reflection. A hall of mirrors. I had to hand it to the Gym Leader, that was inventive.

I spent the next thirty minutes or so trying - and failing - to navigate the hall of mirrors. The few Gym trainers I encountered told me I had to find the Gym Leader on my own, and wasn't allowed any help. I eventually stumbled into a large room made of mirrors, with the Gym Leader standing in the center.

"Hello," she greeted, striding over to meet me. She was in her twenties, with long, blonde hair and a cold, unpleasant look that instantly made me want to be somewhere else.

"I'm here for a badge," I told her, resisting the urge to turn and run from her stare.

"May I see your license?" She held out her hand. I handed it over. "How many Pokemon will you be using?"

"Two." Skyler wasn't on par with Ares yet but he was getting close, so I figured he could stand up to fourth badge Pokemon.

"Excellent." I could tell from the way Eve talked that she came from a background of money. A lot of money.

She went over to the back wall of the room and opened a hidden door that housed eight boxes of pokeballs. She carefully selected two pokeballs from a box with a the number four written on it in black marker and turned back to face me.

"Are you ready?" I nodded an affirmative. She threw one of the pokeballs and out burst a large, green and yellow tortoise. There were three long, brown ridges along its yellow, sectioned shell, which had two bushes growing on it. The shell covered not only its back, but its short tail and its broad head. I also noticed yellow, triangular protrusions on its beaked face.

A Grotle. Nothing that Ares couldn't deal with, but I would rather not send out my strongest team member first, so I dropped Skyler's pokeball instead.

"Dragonbreath!" I voiced my command as soon as he was out of the pokeball. This surprised Eve somewhat, and by the time she had ordered her Grotle to use withdraw, Skyler had already struck it with a jet of the blue-green fire. Ember may have been more effective, but the Grotle was too far away for it to have had any effect.

"Razor leaf!" She ordered. A flurry of sharpened leaves flew from the bushes on the Grotle's back, straight towards Skyler.

"Protect!" I retaliated. He had learned that while in Ilex Forest. An almost invisible bubble appeared and encased Skyler, protecting him from the leaves, which simply hit the barrier and fluttered to the floor.

"To the wall," Eve countered. I didn't understand this at first, until the Grotle ran in an awkward gait towards the mirror that served as a wall and multiple reflections appeared all over the wall. The reflections then started running, making it impossible to tell which one was real. Previously, it had been standing in the middle of the room, so was easy to distinguish, but that advantage was gone now.

"Dragonbreath!" While there appeared to be multiple Grotle, there also appeared to be multiple streams of blue-green fire when Skyler attacked. I didn't know what else I could do as I watched the illusions fly across the walls. I looked carefully, and found the real Grotle. I was about to point it out to Skyler but he hit it with a lucky shot before I had the chance.

"Bite!" I could tell that Eve was getting desperate. The Grotle's ranged attacks were all grass type and ineffective against a dragon like Skyler, so she was forced to send it up close to attack. That didn't suit Skyler too well. His shell gave him extra protection but also greatly limited his movement and hindered him up close.

"Ember!" I called to Skyler as the Grotle galloped in its awkward gait towards him, realizing that it was now close enough for said attack to work. Flames burst from Skyler's mouth, the Grotle ran into them and the bushes on its shell burst into flames. It tripped and collided with Skyler, taking them both to the ground before Eve returned it.

The next Pokemon that she brought out was considerably more worrying. It was a tall, black, muscular dog with a slim build and a long, thin tail that ended in an arrowhead. Its underside and muzzle were both tan and it had three bands of white on its back, along with two bands on each ankle and one around its neck. It had long, curved, cruel looking horns atop its head, a skull shape on its throat and sharp teeth and claws.

"Smog!" Eve used the same tactic I had used against her Grotle - issuing a command straight away to take the opponent off guard. It worked. A hazy, purple gas spread out over a large portion of the room and cloaked Skyler, temporarily robbing him of his vision.

"Protect!" I couldn't think of anything else to do.

"Thunder fang!" The Houndoom dived into the smog, teeth crackling with electricity. I heard a sound like shattering glass - it was the sound of Skyler's barrier breaking - followed by a crackle and a hiss of pain from Skyler.

Eve didn't give the Houndoom any more commands, instead it attacked Skyler of its own accord with a combination of bites, thunder fangs and embers. None of the attacks were particularly effective, but the dog attacked so ferociously and relentlessly that it overwhelmed Skyler nonetheless. To make matters worse, Skyler couldn't defend himself because he was still blinded by the smog. The canine on the other hand was less reliant on its vision.

I returned Skyler when I realized it was hopeless and would only result in injury on his part. That left me with Ares. A bug type against a fire type was not good, but at the same time, a bug type against a dark type was an advantage. However, after looking at that display of viciousness and ruthlessness from the Houndoom, I knew it was no pushover.

I decided not to use my previous tactic, and instead let him size up his opponent for a while after I released him. The Houndoom bared its teeth and snarled, raising its hackles. Ares darted from ground to ceiling to wall repeatedly, observing his opponent.

"Howl," Eve said quietly, a thoughtful look on her face. She knew she was up against a stronger opponent and was trying to figure out how to win. Despite how assuring that was, I didn't take my win for granted.

"Double team," I called to Ares, a strategy forming in my mind. He obliged and appeared to split into two as the Houndoom let out a chilling howl. The Houndoom didn't seem worried by this.

"Sludge bomb!" I think Eve had figured out already that her best chance to hit a fast, flying opponent was some form of projectile attack. The Houndoom opened its mouth and spat a solid ball of purple at Ares, who was on the left wall. It flew towards him much quicker than I would have thought possible, but Ares darted over to the opposite wall and evaded the attack. The sludge bomb hit Ares' double team and it blinked out of existence. I didn't care. I had just thought of a better plan.

"Supersonic!" Ares had gotten very good at using this attack successfully as of late. He beat his wings so fast that I could hardly see them and an irritating ringing rang throughout the room. Even though we had clamped our hands over our ears, Eve and I could still hear it, although it was muffled enough not to have any effect on us. The Houndoom wasn't so lucky.

"Sludge bomb!" Eve repeated. Instead, the hound tripped and slammed its face off of the reflective floor.

"Fly!" Ares knew what this command meant, so he started flitting around the room, his reflection appearing everywhere and moving along with him, so that it looked like we were in a room of dragonflies.

"Sludge bomb!" Eve commanded, managing to contain her temper. The Houndoom got startled by one of Ares' many reflections and tripped over its own feet.

"Bug bite!" The real Ares darted past and latched onto the Houndoom's side with his jaws and drew blood, managed to lift it a few feet into the air and then dropped it.

"Dammit!" Eve screamed, finally losing her cool. The Houndoom managed to get its feet. It looked like the confusion had worn off.

"Sonicboom!" I called, sure now of my victory. Ares started rapidly beating his wings again, creating a different sound this time. This was higher pitched and painful as opposed to irritating. I clamped my hands over my ears, as did Eve, but the Houndoom had no hands to block the sound and just gave out an anguished howl.

I thought that was the end of the battle, but then something else happened. The floor, ceiling and walls all simultaneously shattered, blowing shards of glass everywhere. I had not meant that.

Before I knew what was happening, a Gallade was standing in front of Eve and had formed some kind of domed barrier above us all. The pieces of glass hit the invisible dome and slid harmlessly down to the ground around the edges of the room.

"You are lucky that we are not all dead," Eve practically snarled at me. She was annoyed both at her loss, and at the wreck I had made of the room.

"I didn't mean that," I said in my defense.

"Here, have these." She held out a handful of money in one hand and held a badge and a TM in the other.

The badge appeared to be a stylized green X with the letter E written in white where the two parts of the X bisected. I noticed that the top parts of the X were sharp and the bottom parts were wider and rounded. The badge was actually a pair of Gallade arms crossed over in the shape of an X. I pinned it to the thigh of my jeans along with my other badges.

The TM contained the move sludge bomb. I noted, with a pang in my chest, that the move would have been ideal for Naja.

"May I take you license," Eve demanded, clearly not happy with me. I handed it over, she signed one of the remaining five boxes on the back and returned it to me.

"Thanks," I said.

"You are welcome." She had a way of saying that which made it clear I was in no way welcome. "Also, you now have a class three license," she went on. "Well done." I didn't miss her sarcasm.

"Great."

"Leave, please. We have cleaning up to do," she said. As she said this, her Gallade raised its arms above its head and the shards of glass started floating back to the walls, floor and ceiling. The shards of glass melded together when they came into contact and within ten seconds the room was back to what it had been like before the battle. I was impressed.

So, after winning my first badge without Naja and Cerletti, I walked back to the Center.


	38. Assault

Shedding Skins

Chapter Thirty Eight

Assault

* * *

I awoke to a crash and a scream. I sat bolt upright and looked around the room, finding nothing amiss. I thought I had dreamed the sounds but just as I started to relax, the door to the room was broken down and three people entered.

My first thought was that this was a nightmare. They were dressed in grey hoodies that they wore with the hoods up, hockey masks, black combat pants and black boots. They were also all armed - one with a baseball bat, one with a kitchen knife and one with a crowbar. It was like some kind of uniform.

I didn't hesitate to pick up my knife - which I had thankfully neglected to put away - and dive out of the bed at the nearest opponent. It happened to be the one with the bat. He brought the bat back and was about to swing it at me, but I was faster and slashed at him, opening up a large cut on one forearm and causing him to drop his weapon. I followed that up by bringing the the handle into the side of his head, knocking him out.

Ares had been sleeping on one of the walls and hesitated about as much as I did. He flew at the one with the crowbar, grabbed the man's head in his jaws, flew at the nearest wall, dragging him by the head and cracked the thug's skull off of it. His hockey mask didn't offer much protection against that amount of force.

Skyler simply stood up and used a dragonbreath attack to melt the remaining thug's mask while he was still wearing it. He collapsed to the floor, screaming and trying to scoop the burning, liquid plastic off his face. There was far too much, though, and he stopped moving before he could remove it all.

I was strangely unperturbed by the violence.

I took a closer look at the mask of the thug I had knocked out. I noticed that it had a slit at the mouth. Unusual. I also noticed that the slit had been crudely hacked at, making it into a creepy little smile. Lovely.

I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that the Center was being attacked. Who would be stupid enough to attack a place that could have any number of powerful Pokemon in it? That's when I realized why; the trainers that stayed in Azelea were almost all beginning trainers. Azelea was also one of the most isolated towns or cities in Johto - Ilex Forest sat on one side and Union Cave on the other. They were attacking Azelea because it was an easy target.

I heard another scream. I quickly pulled on my clothes and headed out the door, knife clutched in my hand and my team of two following behind me.

I walked along the corridor, listening at each door for sounds of violence. There weren't many trainers in the Center compared to other towns and cities, which was good because it meant less people would get hurt, but bad because it meant there would be less people to fight back. On the sixth door from my room, I heard noise.

I turned to Ares and Skyler then drew a finger slowly across my throat. I wasn't sure if they got the message or not, but I figured they would use lethal force if they had to, anyway. In fact, Skyler would use it even when he didn't have to. I took a deep breath and barged in the door - the lock had thankfully been broken.

There were four thugs inside and two trainers - one boy and one girl. They couldn't have been much younger than me - I had been training, what, five months? - but they had that look about them that told me they were beginners, and I couldn't help but feel much older than I actually was. Two of the men were kicking the boy to within an inch of his life and the other two had the girl pinned to the bed. I didn't even want to know what the bastards had planned.

"Fuck!" One of the thugs bellowed when I barged in. He had been kicking the boy but turned his attention on me. He threw a haymaker, aiming at my face. It was a wild, clumsy swing and I ducked under it easily. I was about to ready a punch, but then I remembered his hockey mask. I decided on a hard knee to the groin instead, which doubled him over in pain and brought tears to his eyes. He wouldn't be throwing punches any time soon. Or walking straight for that matter.

I had never been a particularly good fighter, but five months of training had honed my muscles and toughened me up, as well as putting me in situations where I was forced to fight. I'd had to learn how to defend myself.

Meanwhile, Ares had destroyed one thug's mask and opened up a large gash along his jaw - presumably with night slash - which looked like it would leave him disfigured for life. I saw another thug lying on the ground. He had a hole in his side and was swiftly bleeding to death. I guessed that he had used bug bite to do that.

Skyler had been more creative with his violent assault. He had used dragonbreath to burn the remaining thug's legs off. The man was still alive and screaming, but Skyler refused to put him out of his misery. I approved of Skyler's decision, I didn't think the bastard deserved that luxury either.

I left the traumatized trainers in their room and went to try and save some more.

The next occupied room held a boy whose face was so swollen that it would have been unidentifiable as a head had it not been attached to his shoulders. The thugs had presumably ran away to terrorize more trainers.

The next room was inhabited by a Scyther and a screaming boy. Both were covered in blood and the boy was kneeling near the corpses of three thugs.

The next victim was a girl who was being held down, bent over the bed. I didn't give the three thugs a chance to do the sick things they had in mind.

Two girls were in the next room, one dead, the other weeping over the corpse of her friend. There was nothing I could do.

I was about to check the next room, but found that I couldn't bear it. I let out a scream of frustration and punched the wall to my left. I felt tears coming to my eyes and angrily wiped them away. This wasn't a time for tears. Tears could come later, when people weren't being murdered.

I took a deep breath and tried to compose myself. I was about to barge in through the door when I smelled something that made me stop. I smelled smoke.

"Shit!" I cried, turning around to see the fire that had crept up on me. It was a lot of fire. I turned around and started sprinting down the corridor in the other direction. Ares cruised along beside me, a leisurely pace for him. Skyler was managing to keeping up, but he wasn't finding it easy.

I had a plan. If we could make it outside, Skyler could get a clear shot at the Center and put the fires out with his hydro pump attacks. He couldn't use the move for very long without getting tired, though, so I couldn't afford to have him waste any to get us out of the building.

"Dragonbreath!" I called to Skyler, pointing at the window at the end of the corridor. He shot a stream of flames past my head and into the window, melting the glass away. "Ares, outside!" I pointed at the window frame and he understood. He zoomed and hovered outside the window. I took out Skyler's pokeball and returned him just before I reached the window.

I threw myself forward and shot through the window, hitting my hip painfully on the frame. I was acting on pure instinct, not using the rational part of my brain. I collided with Ares just outside the window and managed to latch onto him without impaling myself on his spikes.

"Down!" I pointed towards the ground and struggled not to scream as I looked at the drop below us. Ares hovered down to the ground below us, carefully so that I didn't slip off.

It was a nightmare scene. Trainers who lived in the town were being dragged out of their houses and beaten senseless. There were even a few burning houses, and the Center was obviously burning.

The thugs were even attacking Eve. One was holding each arm back and she was on her knees. A thug in front of her swung a boot into her stomach, doubling her over in pain. Another thug was standing to the side, clutching the belt that held Eve's Pokemon. She was defenseless. The whole thing was taking place outside her own Gym.

"Hydro pump! Put out that fire!" I shouted to Skyler, pointing at the burning Center. "Ares," I shouted to my dragonfly, starting towards the Gym with him following behind me. I wasn't worried about Skyler being on his own - anyone unfortunate enough to attack him would end up with a melted face.

I knew that our best chance of driving these thugs away was to get Eve's Pokemon. They were just thugs, armed with bricks, pipes and an assortment of other melee weapons. They weren't the army, they weren't even the police and there was no way they could stand up to a Gym Leader's team.

I had my knife in my hand and was walking towards the one that was hitting Eve. My plan was to simply stab him in the back. One of his friends warned him that I was approaching. There went that plan.

He picked up a hockey stick and swung it at my face. He was quick, but I was marginally quicker and managed to duck in order to prevent my face from being rearranged. That was far too close for comfort. I thrust forward with my knife but he managed to jump to the side just in time. He retaliated by swinging his hockey stick into my knee.

"Fuck!" I screamed, falling on the floor and clutching my knee with one hand. All I wanted to do was curl into a ball and scream, but my life was on the line, so I reached out with my other hand to pick up a brick. The thug raised the hockey stick above his head. I swung the brick into his knee. He dropped as quickly as I had. I raised the brick and brought it down on his head.

Meanwhile, Ares had opened up a shoulder to hip gash on one thug and had picked up another, flown twenty feet into the air and dropped him. Eve was straddling the last one, beating his face to a bloody pulp. Her belt - with six pokeballs attached - was lying on the ground about ten feet from her.

I struggled to my feet, ignoring my injured knee, and kicked the belt, sending all the pokeballs flying.. When they hit the ground, they burst open, releasing the Pokemon that Eve kept on her at all times, her strongest Pokemon. The Gallade from earlier, a Slowbro, a Meganium, an Altaria, a Lucario and a Skarmory. They started raining down attacks of all sorts on the thugs.

The thugs who weren't dead or crippled by the attacks of Eve's Pokemon were scattering and Skyler had managed to put out the fire. Disaster had been averted. I was thankful.

I was leaning against the wall of the Gym, breathing heavily. I was burnt out, exhausted. Eve was directing her Pokemon in battle, mostly instructing them to try and heal the injured.

"Slut!" The last of thugs screamed at Eve over his shoulder as he retreated. I had the feeling we would see them again.


	39. Interrogation

Shedding Skins

Chapter Thirty Nine

Interrogation

* * *

"Hawkes..." Tyson muttered to himself, deep in thought. It had been a week since the attack, and a whole lot of people had arrived in that time, Tyson being one of them. Raynor and the tall blonde trainer from Cianwood had arrived as well. They were in some sort of official capacity, although I didn't know exactly why.

Elite Four Shenzi had arrived as well, accompanied by Elite Four Leon. The two of them had garnered the majority of the attention since they arrived, although they didn't seem to appreciate it much.

Pauli Grey had came to Azelea, arriving dramatically on the back of an old, battle-scarred Staraptor. He was gathering a lot of the attention, although he took it in his stride and didn't let it bother him. He had been in the public eye for decades, so he knew how to deal with it.

Forrest and Marnie had teleported in almost immediately. They had been hysterical, asking if I was okay and then checking anyway, despite me telling them that I was fine.

A small handful of politicians had decided to make an appearance as well, but I stayed away from them and didn't hear very much about them.

I had also been named in the papers. Everybody claimed that I was a hero and that Azelea would have come off much worse without me. I tried to avoid everyone that I didn't know personally. I just wanted to train with my team, and have Naja and Cerletti back.

Nobody had a positive word to say about Eve. I hadn't liked her, but I felt sorry for her nonetheless. The media was criticizing her for not preventing the thing in the first place, for getting caught by the thugs and a hundred other things. On top of that, she was permanently rushing from one meeting to another and worrying about the rumors that her job was on the line. I didn't think she even slept anymore.

"What?" I asked, confused, back in the present day again. I was in a room at the only hotel in Azelea - seeing as the Center had been on fire - with Tyson, Raynor, Marnie, Forrest and the tall blonde trainer.

"Hawkes. The name's been spray painted on the Gym wall," Raynor answered. "Didn't you notice?"

"I'm guessing Hawkes is the name of the guy in charge," Forrest chipped in.

"No shit." It was tall blonde trainer.

"Shut up, Scarlett," Tyson said. So Scarlett was her name.

"Probably someone with a history of hating trainers," Marnie opined.

"Unlikely," Raynor disagreed.

"I'd say some psycho who was looking for an excuse to hurt people," Tyson offered.

"And that excuse happened to be trainer hate," Scarlett agreed.

"You know that all your speculation is quite pointless?" A man in an expensive suit said in a smooth voice, walking into the room. He had a cocky smirk on his face and a short, neat haircut. He looked like he was in his early twenties. I didn't like him.

"And why is that?" Scarlett almost growled, rising to her feet. Apparently she shared my sentiments.

"There's no need to be so hostile, Scarlett," he chuckled, finding it amusing. He knew her name. They were probably familiar with each other.

"If she tries to hit you, I'm not going to stop her this time," Raynor informed him. The newcomer suddenly looked a little less cocky.

"For the benefit of you three, who are unfamiliar with me, I am Alexander Diamond," he introduced himself, nodding to Forrest, Marnie and I. "I am a politician," he went on.

"He's an asshole," Scarlett corrected him. He opened his mouth to voice his comeback then seemed to think better of it.

"Listen, I don't care," I told him. He looked taken aback.

"I am of a certain status, and I deserve a great deal more respect than that," he replied.

"Respect needs to be earned," I retorted. He wasn't impressed.

"What did you come here to tell us?" Forrest asked, playing peacemaker.

"We know who Hawkes is," Alexander answered, shooting both Scarlett and I angry glares.

"The guy that's in charge?" It was Marnie speaking.

"Obviously," the politician said disdainfully, rolling his eyes. "But we know a great deal more about him than that," he explained.

"Would you mind telling us?" It was Raynor. He looked like he was getting agitated.

He took a piece of paper out of his pocket, unfolded it and showed it to us. It showed a picture of a man that looked to be around thirty, with black hair that needed cut and washed. He had a thick layer of stubble that was close to becoming a full on beard. His skin was pale and his eyes were red and bloodshot. He looked hungover.

"His name is Allan Hawkes. He joined the army when he was eighteen and was dishonorably discharged four years later. He came back with post traumatic stress disorder, started drinking and has been in and out of jail ever since. Mostly for assault."

"How do you know it's the right Hawkes? Surely there's more than one person in Johto with the last name of Hawkes," Raynor asked.

"We have our ways," Alexander replied cryptically.

"Why are you telling us this?" I asked him. "We're just trainers."

"You are, but those three aren't." He reminded me. He was referring to Tyson, Raynor and Scarlett. "Anyway, that's all, really," he said before turning on his heel and walking out the door.

"Why are you actually here?" I asked them, puzzled. We knew they were here for a reason, we just didn't know what the reason was.

"We're part of an organization that's trying to protect trainer rights," Raynor answered.

"What organization is that?" Marnie asked.

"Society for the protection of rights of trainers," Scarlett replied.

"S.P.o.R.T." Tyson chipped in.

They didn't tell us any more than that. We talked for a little longer before everyone retired to their rooms for the night.

* * *

I woke up around seven the next morning - surprisingly early for me. I took a shower, got dressed, checked my phone and found that I had a reminder on it. I had to go to the Azelea police station at half eight to be questioned, yet again._  
_

I groaned to myself when I read it. The last thing I wanted was to have to go and speak to more strangers about more things that I couldn't have cared less about. I had already been questioned by the police and interviewed a few times. I couldn't be bothered with any more.

I sat down on the bed and watched the TV with Ares and Skyler for about an hour until it was time to leave. I pulled a hoodie over my head and headed downstairs to the reception.

"Going somewhere?" I heard someone talking to me from behind as I entered the hotel lobby.

"Oh, hey," I replied. It was Elite Four Leon. He was in his twenties, with dirty blonde, spiky hair and a permanent lopsided grin. I liked Leon. He didn't take anything too seriously and he always seemed to want to joke about.

After being named as a hero, everyone had wanted to talk to me for a few days, including Leon. That's how I knew him.

"I'm going out. Apparently there are people that want to see me," I answered.

"Aw, cool," he nodded to himself and then fell into a daydream. "See you later, then," he said after a while, walking upstairs with his dopey smile still on his face. I found it hard to believe that he was one of the most powerful trainers in Johto. No, wait, in the world.

I wandered through Azelea until I came across the police station. It was a small, barely used building - due to the practically non existent crime rates in Azelea. I sat in the waiting room for a few minutes, then my name was called and I was led into a small room with white walls, a small table with some kind of machine sitting on it, a few chairs and little else.

A few seconds later, two men walked in. They were both wearing expensive looking black suits. One was small, heavily built balding man. He reminded me of a very small bear. The other was tall and thin, with a military haircut. He reminded me of a rat.

"We just need to ask you a few questions," Bear told me.

"I've already been questioned by the police," I said.

"We're not the police," Rat snarled.

"We're from a special government branch that deals with internal conflict in Johto," Bear explained. I took a mental note of this.

"Starting tape at exactly eight thirty seven AM," Rat said, tapping the machine that sat on the desk. I guessed it would record our conversation.

"What do you want to know?" I asked wearily. I had been through this too many times.

"What time did the attack take place?" Bear asked.

"Early morning," I replied.

"Can you be more specific?" It was Rat.

"Not really. Checking the time wasn't exactly a priority," I answered. Rat looked like he wanted to punch me.

"Thank you. Did any of the men have firearms?" It was Bear talking again. I didn't see how that was relevant, but I thought about it and answered anyway.

"I didn't see any, no."

"Were any of them in possession of Pokemon?" Rat asked, an anxious look on his face.

"No."

"Are you sure?" Bear was speaking again.

"Absolutely. They used knives, crowbars, baseball bats and some other things, but no guns, and no Pokemon," I said firmly.

"Is it possible that they had Pokemon and you just didn't see them?" Bear asked. I started to figure out what they were trying to do.

"No. If they had any pokeballs on them, I would have seen them."

"What if they were concealing them," Rat suggested. "Let's say...In their pockets?" They were trying to find a way to twist this and blame it on trainers. They were trying to record me saying that it could have been trainers who attacked the Center.

"Have you ever seen someone with a pokeball in their pocket? You can see it a mile away," I said, standing up and gesturing towards the two pokeballs in my own pocket. There were two very visible bulges.

"Sit back down," Bear ordered. I obeyed. I was angry but I wasn't stupid. I knew I didn't want to get on the wrong side of these people.

"They could have concealed pokeballs under their clothes," Rat said.

"You'd still be able to see the bulges. I didn't see any bulges."

"They could have had Pokemon out of their pokeballs," Bear said.

"They didn't."

"Maybe you just didn't see them. Some Pokemon are capable of stealth. I understand that ghosts can move through walls, blend into the shadows and move soundlessly," Bear argued. They were getting ridiculous.

"All the injuries sustained by the victims came from melee weapons. You can check that if you like, it's true."

"It's possible that -" Rat started, but I interrupted him.

"If trainers were behind the attack, then why was every single victim a trainer? Why were no non-trainers attacked?" I was struggling not to raise my voice. I still didn't want to piss them off.

"We're asking the questions, not you," Bear said calmly, although his eyes were ablaze with fury. "This is an ongoing investigation and we don't know all the answers yet," he continued.

"Why is it that you accepted that I hadn't seen any men with guns, but you repeatedly ask me if I saw any Pokemon?"

"We're being thorough," Rat answered.

"You weren't very thorough about the guns then," I responded.

"Taking an interval at...Eight forty two AM," Rat said as he turned the machine off.

"Give us what we want," Bear demanded. He was angry. I had no idea what to say. I wasn't going to lie under any circumstances, but nor did I want to get on the wrong side of people from the government. Thankfully, I didn't have to say anything.

"Linus, outside," Scarlett ordered, barging into the room.

"He's not going anywhere," Rat growled.

"Shearer, don't do anything you'll regret," Bear warned her. So, Scarlett's second name was Shearer.

"Outside," Scarlett repeated to me. I decided to listen to her over Bear and Rat.

When I was out of the room, I saw Tyson walking quickly down the corridor towards me.

"Wait here," he said, striding into the room. I could still hear what was going on.

"McLean," Rat greeted him. He wasn't being friendly.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Scarlett hissed.

"Everything was legit. Just check the tape," Rat said. I could tell that he would be smirking.

"Shut it," Scarlett snarled.

"We're on your side," Bear said. "We're the bureau of -" He started but he was cut off.

"Of let's blame everything on trainers," Tyson interrupted.

"You don't want to do anything you'll regret," Bear repeated.

"Are you joking?" Tyson almost laughed.

"You think you scare us?" Scarlett asked.

"The government could easily implement another training ban," Rat said.

"If they did, they wouldn't know what hit them," Scarlett told them.

"Our side wasn't prepared last time, but now we are. You've lost the element of surprise," Tyson agreed.

I was so absorbed in listening to the argument that I didn't notice Raynor approaching until he was actually in the room with Tyson and Scarlett.

"Ah, Christ...Not you too," Bear groaned.

That was as much as I chose to listen to. I simply turned and walked away, trying to find the exit. When I finally found it, I walked back to the hotel to get my bag. I then took out my phone and typed a quick message.

_I'm leaving._

I sent it to both Marnie and Forrest before turning and leaving.


	40. Stragglers

Shedding Skins

Chapter Forty

Stragglers

* * *

Union Cave was quite simply hellish.

The native Pokemon weren't particularly tough, but I knew that the ones in the lower floors would be. If I accidentally wandered down there, I could be in trouble. It was also easy to get lost, due to the labyrinthine nature of the place and the pitch darkness that I had to navigate it in.

Even though they weren't particularly tough, the wild Pokemon were driving me insane. The wild Zubat were small, but their numbers were ridiculous. Thousands would fly at us in a massive cloud of wings and furry bodies. It was disgusting.

Then there were the Rattata, which scampered around my feet constantly. Any that came close enough to Skyler were stomped to death, and I accidentally stood on a few as well.

I had also seen a Sandshrew and tried to catch it, but it simply dashed into the darkness and escaped.

Marnie had managed to get herself lost in the lower floors a few months ago. An Absol had killed her Weedle and nearly killed her as well. How she managed to get away was unknown to me. She was a much weaker trainer back then, though, so maybe I would be okay if I wandered down there - although I wasn't willing to test that theory.

"Dammit!" I tripped over yet another rock. Well, I thought it was a rock until I saw it moving. I squinted into the darkness to look at. It was about a meter long, snake-like, made up of differently sized rocks and with a single horn on its head. I double checked to make sure I was seeing right, and I was. I was looking at an Onix. But weren't Onix big enough to destroy entire cities? I gave up thinking and walked past it.

I sat down on a waist height rock to rest. The cave seemed to stretch on forever - already I had been walking for nearly half the day. I figured I must be close to the exit.

"Ares!" I called into the darkness. I was letting him roam around the cave since he wouldn't run away, and he could get back to me seconds if I shouted on him. He seemed to be able to navigate the cave better than I could. Skyler, on the other hand, was just as lost as me, so followed behind me.

My giant dragonfly landed quite suddenly on the rock next to me. Skyler just collapsed onto his side in front of the rock.

"Food, anyone?" I said to my two Pokemon, taking out a couple of cans of meat. Skyler sent a burst of blue-green fire into the darkness and waddled along after it. He came back with a half melted Sandshrew. Lovely. Ares preferred the Sandshrew as well, so I had the meat to myself. It was like cardboard, but with even less taste.

"Let's go," I said after we finished our food. I stood up and took a single step before I tripped over a rock. The rock then punched my shin. Of course, I couldn't just trip over a regular rock, I had to trip over a Geodude.

"Dragonbreath," I growled to Skyler. I was quite aware that I had been spamming that move a lot recently.

He shot a jet of the blue-green fire from his mouth, scorching the Geodude and eliciting a strange, strangled scream from it before it passed out. I didn't think it would die, after all, rocks are hard to kill, but I wasn't sympathetic towards it. My shin was hurting.

I limped away after that, searching for the exit, with Skyler waddling behind me. Ares zoomed off to some other part of the cave while we felt our way along in the darkness for the next however long it was. I envied his night vision.

The exit took me by surprise. I didn't see it until it was right in front of me. Just a ragged, human-sized hole in the wall that led out into the open. It was early night by the time we got out. Maybe six or seven o'clock.

I would usually have continued on, but my shin was throbbing from where that stupid little rock had punched it and Union Cave had put me in an even fouler mood, so I bought a room at the Pokemon Center just outside the entrance.

I noted as I walked up to my room that my money supply had dwindled considerably. Having to stay at that hotel in Azelea had taken a rather large bite out of my funds. I made a note to get some more money somehow, at some point soon.

I went into the room, locked the door behind me and threw my bag in the corner. Ares attached himself to the ceiling and Skyler lay down in the middle of the floor. The two of them were asleep almost immediately.

I sat down on the edge of the bed and let out a deep sigh. Too much was happening. Cerletti leaving, the Cacnea dying, Naja leaving, the attack on Azelea and probably more misfortune to come as well. Lucky me.

I was scared. Hawkes' guys were targeting trainers, and I was one. Not only that, I was the one that had screwed up their attack on Azelea. I figured that didn't put me in too great a position. I stared at the four badges pinned to the thigh of my jeans and unpinned them. I stuffed them in my pocket. It might be useful if people didn't know I was a trainer.

I then got under the covers fully clothed, not even taking off my boots or taking my knife out of my belt, and after a long while, managed to fall asleep.

* * *

The next day was rainy, muddy, generally miserable, and the best I'd felt in a long time.

Since I started training, I had never really been one for trainer battles. Strangers coming up to me and demanding that I battle them just wasn't my thing, but I needed money, so battling trainers was a good idea.

Thankfully, I didn't come across any trainers who could give me a real battle. I simply went up against all the one and two badge trainers that I encountered throughout the route, owned them and took my prize money. So I have no problem with picking on those weaker than myself. Sue me.

I mostly used Skyler when battling. He didn't maim or kill the opponents - I allowed him to do that to wild Pokemon as long as he didn't do it to his opponents during trainer battles - and he still wasn't on par with Ares, so more battles couldn't hurt.

"Thanks!" I had just beaten yet another trainer and taken some of their money. My opponent stalked in the direction of the Pokemon Center, throwing glares back over his shoulder at me.

It was late afternoon by now, and I knew I had to be close to Violet City. The rain had only got worse, and I was wading through a river of mud, but I was happy. I had been earning money all day and I was getting a chance to bond with Ares. I'd had to return Skyler earlier because he couldn't handle the mud - He was too heavy and his legs were too short.

It was only by chance that I glanced to my right and happened to see, through the blanket of rain, three figures almost concealed by the trees. They were a distance away, and I would usually have just continued on. Something just didn't seem right, however.

I started wading through the river, weaving through the trees that were far too close together, towards the figures. For a long time I couldn't make out anything about the figures because the constant rain was obscuring my vision. The trees didn't help keep the rain out - it was still winter and the leaves hadn't grown back yet.

As I approached, I noticed that one figure was considerably smaller than the other two. The two taller ones were also carrying things. At first, they looked like sticks, but as I got closer, I recognized that they were weapons. One had a baseball bat, while the other had a golf club.

"Ares," I mutter as I got even closer. I think he noticed the tone of my voice ro something, because he started staying closer to me and stopped making nearly as much noise. None of the figures had noticed me yet.

When I was about ten meters away, I recognized what they were wearing. The two taller ones, with the weapons, were dressed identically. Grey hoodies, black combat pants, black boots and white hockey masks, with the mouth slits cut and cracked at the edges to resemble a smile. Stragglers from the Azelea attack.

I pulled my knife from my belt with my right hand - I had started carrying it on me again after I had been attacked in Goldenrod - and took out Skyler's pokeball with my left.

I was only a few meters away now, and they still hadn't noticed me. I threw Skyler's pokeball down into the mud, releasing him. I didn't wait for the ball to bounce back up - I knew it would probably get stuck in the mud.

"Night slash! Dragonbreath!" I barked, ready to attack with my knife if either one of the two got close enough.

The one with the golf club pulled his weapon back to strike Skyler, but my dragon used a dragonbreath on the thug's weapon. The metal club started to melt, the burning liquid metal running down over its owner's hand. He screamed and fell back, trying - and failing - to wipe the liquid metal off of his hand.

The one with the baseball bat was much smarter. He timed his swing correctly and the bat connected with Ares' head just before he used night slash. He dropped to the ground by the thug's feet, blue blood leaking out of his head. I knew he wasn't dead, but he was hurt. The thug then stepped closer and raised the bat above his head, aiming to finish the job.

No. I couldn't take losing another Pokemon. Especially not Ares. I leaped forward and swung with my right hand, opening up a cut on the thug's left shoulder with my knife. He hissed in pain and jumped back, glaring at me. Skyler was still fighting the other one and Ares was out for the moment. It was just the two of us.

He attacked first, swinging the bat at my head, but I jumped back, the bat missing me by inches. I then lunged forward and lashed out with my knife, he jumped back and I missed. I felt a sharp pain in my wrist, my hand sprung open and I dropped the knife. Not good.

I really, really hated the hockey mask he was wearing at that moment. It meant that I couldn't just break his nose or knock out a tooth, I had to target other areas. The mask protected everything above his neck. That's when I realized just that - the mask protected _above _his neck.

I moved in close to him, but he swung his bat at the same time. I jabbed him in the throat, but not before his bat connected with my side. The air went out of me and I dropped to the ground alongside the thug, gritting my teeth in pain. The thug was coughing and hacking, hands at his throat. He wouldn't be moving for a while.

I managed to get to my hands and knees, but failed at getting to my feet. I then felt someone taking my arm and helping me to stand up. I didn't really care who was helping me up, I just wanted the pain in my side to go away. It was a minute or so before I thought to look and see who had helped me up. Of course. The third figure that I had seen.

The third figure had not been a thug. It was in fact a girl, about my own age, with just a single badge, Kate's badge, pinned to her shoulder. She had freckles, bright ginger hair - which had been soaked by the rain and was clinging to her face - and wide, scared eyes. I noticed a large bruise on her cheek and a split in her lip. She would have been pretty had she not been in such a mess.

"Thanks," I panted as she held me up. Those injuries would go nicely with the ones I already had. It seemed to me that I was getting hurt far too often.

I heard a scream and looked over to see Skyler burning his opponent with yet another stream of blue-green fire. I didn't feel sorry for him, nor did I stop Skyler. He could set the lowlife on fire for all I cared, he had just attacked a lone girl simply because she was a trainer. And anyway, Skyler deserved to have his fun. He had saved a lot of lives recently.

I felt more than saw or heard the girl approaching. She looked scared. No, more than that. Traumatized. Fragile.

Now that I was able to think clearly, questions started forming in my mind.

"Where are your Pokemon?" I asked, thinking that she could have used them to fend off her attackers.

"They took them," she muttered. That was a lot of use. I looked around the area and saw just a sliver of white in the mud. I hobbled over to it and dug the pokeball out. There was another right next to it.

"Here." I tossed the pokeballs to her. She managed catch them in her trembling hands, although she very nearly dropped them.

Another question then appeared in my thoughts. Why wasn't she wearing a jacket or anything? I offered her mine, which she reluctantly took. I had been uncomfortable frequently since I started training. I was used to the cold. I could deal with it.

I then remembered something else. Something that made my heart leap into my throat.

"Ares!" I screamed, running over to my fallen dragonfly and kneeling next to him. Blue blood was leaking out from some kind of small crack in his exoskeleton, just behind where his left eye ended. He wasn't moving.

I dug around in my pocket for his pokeball and returned him. I knew he wasn't dead and I knew he probably wasn't in immediate danger of death, but I was paranoid after losing so many Pokemon. Five so far. I had managed to lose five members of my team.

I turned around and started walking quickly back to Violet City, only vaguely aware of the girl following behind me.


	41. Finding Something

Shedding Skins

Chapter Forty One

Finding Something

* * *

Ares was fine. He had needed rest and some kind of minor treatment, but he was okay. He wasn't able to battle for the next few days, but I couldn't have cared less - it was much better than death. Ares, however, really wasn't too happy with it.

The girl's name was Jean. After she had gotten over the trauma of being attacked, she was loud, happy and giggly. She was like Hazel at Christmas, except she acted like that all the time.

Jean was a beginner, and while I waited for Ares to heal, I occupied my time with showing her the ropes. It was fun, being the older trainer. I explained the various rules of training to her, such as license classes, how Gym Leaders will use a different team depending on how many badges you have, how you're disqualified from the League if you lose to the same Gym Leader three times and so on and so forth.

"How do I teach my Pokemon new moves?" She asked the day after we met, out in route thirty-one. She was really clueless about training, even more so than I had been when I started.

"Let them fight. They'll pick up new moves with enough time and practice," I replied, watching her Meditite take a beating from a Pidgey. It stood with its fists clenched by its side, eyes shut tight and grimacing every time the bird scratched or pecked at it. After a while of this, it unleashed an uppercut that knocked out the bird in one hit.

"Can't I teach them any quicker?"

"You can use TMs if you have any," I told her. "In fact, you beat Kate, so you should have shadow ball," I realized.

"Yeah, but I don't know how to use TMs," she said.

"That's fine, I'll show you," I responded.

"Are there any other ways to teach my Pokemon moves?"

"There are certain people that can teach moves to your Pokemon through tutoring, but they're really rare."

"Oh." She looked disappointed.

"Some Pokemon also inherit moves from their parents that they wouldn't normally learn," I informed her. "Skyler, hydro pump!" I called out to my dragon, who was happily kicking the smaller, weaker Pokemon all over the place. He knocked a Pidgey out of the sky with the pillar of water, breaking something, if not just killing the bird, before continuing with his abuse of the native Pokemon.

"That is so cool!" Jean squeaked, staring longingly at Skyler.

"Don't stare at him for too long," I warned her.

"Why? Does it upset him or something?" The stupidity of that statement almost made me laugh out loud. Skyler getting upset? Ridiculous.

"No, he'll probably use it as an excuse to attack you," I replied, still struggling not to laugh.

"He would attack me?" She looked shocked.

"And he would enjoy it," I replied. "He likes hurting things," I explained when I saw her puzzled look.

"Can't you like...Train him out of it or something?" She asked.

"It's part of his personality, so not really," I replied.

"Well that sucks," she said.

"Do you have a TM case?" I asked her, remembering that I was supposed to teach her how to use TMs.

"What's a TM case?" I resisted the urge to groan.

"This," I replied, rifling through my bag until I found it, right at the bottom. I hadn't ever used it before, but I had seen Tyson using his and it looked pretty straightforward.

"What does it do?" She asked, looking at it curiously.

"You put the TM in this slot here," I said, pointing to said slot. "Then you put the pokeball containing the Pokemon you want to teach the move to in here," I continued, pointing at the area I meant. "And then you wait a few seconds and the Pokemon knows the move," I finished.

"I don't have a TM case. How can I use TMs?" She asked.

"The PCs in Pokemon Centers can teach TMs," I replied. "Now, give me your Meditite's pokeball," I added.

"Why?" She asked, handing it over. "And his name's Thai," she informed me.

"Just wait a second," I said, putting the pokeball in the TM case. I dug out a TM from my bag and slotted it in, waited a few seconds and handed it back. "He now knows brick break," I told her, handing her back the Pokeball.

"Thanks," she grinned, hugging me. This took me by surprise - I hadn't even known her for a day and she was hugging me. I figured she was just the huggy type and awkwardly hugged her back.

We heard a sharp cracking sound coming from the tall grass. We stood up so we could see over the tall grass. Jean's Meditite - Thai - was standing over her Zubat - which was bleeding and unconscious - and a wild Pidgey with a badly broken wing.

"Did Thai do that?" She asked, pointing to her Zubat, horrified.

"No," I replied, thinking that much would have been obvious. "Thai doesn't have teeth or claws, so he can't inflict injuries like that. It was the Pidgey."

"Oh," she sighed, relieved. We walked over to her two Pokemon and she returned them. I called on Skyler and returned him.

"We should get your Zubat to the Pokemon Center," I said to her. I didn't think it was badly damaged - it just looked like a lot of small cuts.

"Yeah," she agreed and we set off towards Violet City.

We were passing the pond on the route when I noticed something and asked Jean to stop.

"What does that look like to you?" I asked, pointing out towards something floating in the middle of the body of water.

"I don't know," she replied impatiently, wanting to get her Zubat to the Pokemon Center. "A rock?"

"A rock that floats?" I asked, amused. She looked irritated. "It's red and white. It's a pokeball," I elaborated.

"So? They have pokeballs in marts and shops and stuff," she said. "And it's ages away from us, you can't get it," she added.

"There might be a Pokemon inside," I said. Her eyes widened at this and she became instantly less irritable.

"Then we should get it," she suggested.

"That's what I was thinking," I said, digging around in my pocket for Ares' pokeball. I released him and he immediately turned towards the tall grass, which was teeming with Pokemon. He was desperate to train. Unfortunately, I couldn't let him because of his head injury.

"Over there," I said, pointing to the floating pokeball. "Understand?" He seemed to get the message and reluctantly turned away from the grass. He zoomed out over the water and returned seconds later with the ball held in his mouth. I took the pokeball from him and returned him to his own.

Jean made a disgusted face as I wiped the bug drool off the pokeball with the front of my t-shirt. I wasn't sure if she was thinking about the bug drool or the colossal dragonfly hovering beside me. I found it hard to remember that Yanmega scared most people.

"What's in it?" She asked.

"I don't know," I replied, looking at the large crack down the side of the ball. I was amazed that it was still functioning. "I guess we'll find out." I threw the pokeball down onto the ground and it released the Pokemon inside.

It was a small quadruped, with long ears and a short, furry tail. It's fur was dirty and brown, with patches missing. It looked like a cross between a cat and a dog, with a more canine body and a feline head, although its teeth also looked more like that of a dog. It had long, sharp, retractable claws that it was also showing.

Its hackles were raised and it was alternating between snarling and hissing. It occasionally swiped at the air with its claws or snapped at nothing with its jaws. It looked ready to kill something. That being said, it also looked ready to die itself. Its eyes looked bloodshot, it was half as thin as it should have been and it was covered in cuts and bruises.

"Look at it! It looks terrible!" Jean was almost in tears. She tried to approach it but I returned it first.

"That thing would try and take your hand off if you went anywhere near it," I told her.

"What kind of Pokemon was it?" She asked.

"I don't even know," I don't even know. If it had been in good health then I would have been able to identify it, but it presently looked nothing like what it should.

"What now?" Jean asked.

"To the Center, I guess."

* * *

"This is in serious need of medical attention," I told the nurse when we got back to the Center.

"What's the problem?" She asked, looking at the cracked pokeball.

"Lots of things," I replied. "Just get it healed." She turned and walked through the double doors behind her.

Jean and I waited in the lobby, just talking until the nurses had finished with the Pokemon. We just sat and talked, speculating about the Pokemon's species, talking more about the League rules and training in general. We talked for an hour and a half, that's how long it took the nurses to finish with the Pokemon.

"You two," one of the nurses called, an angry look on her face.

"Yeah?" I said, walking over to her, Jean following behind.

"Do you make a habit of neglecting and abusing your Pokemon?"

"What? Oh! No, that isn't mine. I just found its pokeball out in the middle of the pond," I explained. The nurse's expression softened.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "We'll need to give your Pokemon quick checks, though, just to be sure," she continued.

"That's fine," I said. "But what about the Pokemon? Is it okay?"

"Far from it. It's suffered a severe beating and it's been starving for a long time. It's also contracted an illness," the nurse told me regretfully. "It's also a very, very aggressive individual," she finished.

"What can you do to fix it?"

"We've already healed the worst of its injuries and its weight should be fixed if given enough food. We can cure it of its illness with antibiotics. So its physical problems are more or less resolved," she informed me.

"Physical problems?" I inquired.

"Yes. Its behavior will take a while to return to normal," she replied. "Anyway, may I see your Pokemon?"

"Yeah." I handed over Ares and Skyler's pokeballs and she walked through the double doors behind the desk again. Ten minutes later, she returned.

"Everything's fine, your Pokemon appear to be well looked after," she said approvingly, handing me three pokeballs, one with a large crack down the side.

"This isn't mine," I told her again, holding up the cracked pokeball.

"It is now," she responded. At my puzzled look, she continued. "We can legally seize any Pokemon that's being mistreated, and give it to a trainer who we think will care for it properly."

"What if I refuse?"

"You won't. What trainer would say no to an Eevee?" My eyes nearly popped out of my skull.

"It's an Eevee?" I asked stupidly.

"An ill, underfed Eevee," she confirmed. "But it will get back to full health with enough care."

"Thanks," I said, pocketing the cracked pokeball.

"Just take these," she said, handing me a bottle of small pills. "Two a day for the next week. Crush them up and put it in its food, it won't notice," she went on. Antibiotics for the illness, I guessed. "And feed it as much as you can," she finished.

"Thank you," I called over my shoulder as we left.

"Are you going to keep it?" Jean asked while we walked back to route thirty-one.

"Of course I'm going to keep it. It's an Eevee," I replied.

"Oh! They can evolve into, like, five different Pokemon, can't they?" She recalled.

"Seven," I corrected her. "Fire, water, electric, psychic, dark, grass and ice."

We reached route thirty-one and I released Skyler, since I was expecting the Eevee to be aggressive. It was still the afternoon, so trainers were still out battling each other and training their Pokemon.

I took a deep breath and dropped the cracked pokeball, releasing the Eevee. It came out hissing and spitting, snapping and slashing at the air in front of it. How the nurses had managed to deal with something like this, I had no idea. Maybe that was why they took so long.

"Uhh...Hey," I said to it, crouching down so I was level with it - I was still too far away for it to reach me with those claws, though. I rummaged around in my bag for any food and found a sandwich. "D'you want this?" I asked it, holding out the sandwich. Giving it food must be a good way to earn a Pokemon's trust, right?

It stopped snapping and scratching as much and eyed the food warily. Slowly, it came closer, until it was close enough to receive the sandwich. Just when I thought it was going to be civil, it lashed out a scratched my hand, causing me to drop the sandwich. It then snatched it up in its jaws and jumped back, out of my reach.

"Dammit," I hissed, wiping the blood from my hand. Little fucker.

The Eevee might have been out of our reach, but Skyler went for it nonetheless. He ran up to it and kicked it over with one of his short, stubby legs. I was thankful he didn't just roast it alive.

I took their pokeballs from my pocket and returned both of them before the fight could escalate, grumbling about the scratches on my hand. They were long and narrow, but deep, with blood flowing freely from them. They were itchy as well as sore, which made them even more irritating.

"What the hell? I offered it food and it scratches me?" I growled. I wasn't even sure I wanted to keep the creature. I felt it would take too much work.

"I know. Sucks," Jean remarked. "Any idea what you're going to call it?" She changed the subject rather suddenly. I had thought of a few. I'd wanted an Eevee more or less since I started training, but they were expensive. Very expensive.

"River, maybe," I said after a few seconds of thought. "Yeah, River," I confirmed.


	42. Mountains

Shedding Skins

Chapter Forty Two

Mountains

* * *

"River!" I called to the newest member of the team. The creature didn't turn around, but I saw the ears moving, a sign that it had heard me.

Since I'd found the cracked pokeball floating in the pond, a few things had happened. Firstly, I had found out that River was a she. That came as a surprise to me. I had just assumed River was a male for some reason.

Secondly, I had decided I wanted a Vaporeon. I knew that Eevee evolved into Vaporeon through the use of a water stone, however, I wasn't exactly sure how to use a water stone. So, I looked it up on one of the Center computers and found out that River would have to be in close proximity to a water stone for an extended period of time. Hazel's Christmas present to me had included a water stone, so I took that, attached it to a collar and put it on River - earning myself badly cut hands in the process.

Thirdly, I decided that River was actually evil. She would lash out at anyone and everyone who came near - with the exception of Skyler, since he would hit back. My hands and arms were permanently covered in scratches thanks to her vicious outbursts. I knew it was because she had been treated badly by her previous trainer, but it was still driving me insane.

Despite River's vicious nature, having a new team member was fun. I hadn't really started to train her yet, but it was nice to have another team member, even if she didn't seem to like me. And anyway, the bad behavior wasn't permanent.

"There!" I shouted to Skyler, pointing towards the sky. He let out a stream of blue-green fire but he missed his target. He then shot another stream of the fire, but swept it back and forth this time, until he caught the unfortunate Skarmory. It dropped from the sky and landed ten feet from us, still smoldering and smoking.

It had been about a month since I had found River's cracked pokeball floating in the pond. It had taken three weeks for River to get better, which was quick, considering the state that she had been in before. I stayed in Violet during that time, just lazing about, not really doing much. Jean had been there to talk to for most of that time. It had been relaxing.

I had then left for route forty-six. It had taken me a few days to pass, then I had entered route forty-five. Days later, I was still battling through the native Skarmory, Graveler, Donphan and whatever other dangerous creatures resided in the mountains.

"Ares!" I pointed to an angry Ursaring that was stumbling over to us, bellowing in rage. He flitted over, easily dodged a clumsy swipe of its claws and opened up a large gash on its side with night slash. He then got behind it and knocked it flat on its face with an ancientpower attack. One of the rocks struck its head and knocked it out.

This was unlike the other routes I had come across - the Pokemon were strong enough to stand up to Ares and Skyler. This required us to be careful, and pick our battles carefully. For example, Ares found it difficult to combat Skarmory, while Skyler couldn't usually take down Donphan.

"River!" I called again. She ignored me. She was walking ahead of the rest of us, though not too far. In the past couple of days I had allowed her to travel out of her pokeball, on the condition that she didn't stray too far.

I didn't want her picking fights with the native Pokemon since - although she had returned to full health - she still wasn't nearly as strong as them. She did get into a few fights with wild Teddiursa and Phanpy, attacking with a viciousness and ferocity that could rival Skyler's. The difference was that while she was getting slightly less violent with every passing day, Skyler's violent side never let up.

We continued on for a while before I heard my phone ringing. I opened a message from Forrest and read it.

_Where are you?_

I hadn't really talked to Forrest in a long time, so I decided not to ignore it, as I did most messages.

_Route forty-five. It sucks here. Where are you?_

I put my phone back in my pocket to wait for a reply.

"I'm also in route forty-five," a voice said from behind me. I did't need to turn around to know who the voice belonged to.

"Stop doing that!" I groaned, turning around to face my friend, who was standing there with one hand on a Xatu's head. I was referring to his teleporting in on me, which he had done twice now.

"Is that an Eevee?" He asked, ignoring my previous comment.

"Yeah," I replied. I explained to him all that had happened since we had last talked and he just sat and listened.

"I can't believe you got an Eevee," Forrest said for about the millionth time.

"Neither can I. So, what have you been up to?" I asked. "Oh, and let your Pokemon out. The natives are tough," I added, gesturing to the wild inhabitants of the mountains.

"That's probably a good idea." He threw down three Pokeballs and his team burst into existence. Marine was the same as usual, Leo had evolved into a positively terrifying Luxray and Aard had evolved into an equally as formidable Lucario. There was also his Xatu. His team was coming along nicely.

"Yeah, so, after you left, Tyson, Raynor and Scarlett got into the big fight with some guys from the government," Forrest informed me. It didn't come as a great shock. "That guy, what's his name again? Something Diamond?" He went on.

"Alexander Diamond," I said.

"Yeah. He ended up playing peacemaker. He did some stuff and sorted it out, so Tyson, Raynor and Scarlett didn't get arrested." That surprised me. I had gotten the impression that Alexander Diamond wasn't to be trusted.

"So then Marnie and I left. We teleported back to Olivine and both got badges at the Gym, then we went back to Azelea after things had calmed down a little, so we could get badges from Eve."

"You've got five badges then?" I asked. I was falling behind.

"Yeah. Zach, Lee, Vernon, Jan and Eve. In that order," he grinned. "You're falling behind."

"You won't be such a smart ass when I beat Reece," I retorted. His eyes went wide.

"You're challenging Reece?" He asked.

"Yeah. Why not?" I confirmed.

"He's really good, that's why," Forrest countered.

"We all have to fight him at some point." I pointed out.

"I suppose..."

"So, where's Marnie?" I changed the subject. They had been traveling together, that much I was aware of. I was also pretty positive they were going out, but I didn't know for definite.

"Oh, she's visiting her family. She said she wants some time alone with them," he replied. "So I came to hang out with my bestest buddy in the whole world," he exclaimed with exaggerated enthusiasm. I laughed. This would be fun.

* * *

At the end of the day, we still hadn't reached Blackthorn. This disappointed me, as I had really been expecting to arrive before night.

We were sitting by a fire that Skyler had lit for us, eating whatever food we happened to have in our bags. Our teams were out as well, sitting in their own little groups. Leo was with River, Aard and Marine were with Ares, Forrest's Xatu was sitting by itself and so was Skyler.

"You should get a traveling partner," Forrest advised me through a mouthful of canned meat. "It's better than being alone all the time."

"I don't mind traveling alone. In fact, I prefer it sometimes," I replied.

"Have you ever had a traveling partner?" Forrest asked. I briefly thought back.

"No. I've had training partners, though." I told him.

"Like me and Marnie?" He inquired.

"And a couple of others." I confirmed.

"Really? Who?"

"Have I told you about Hazel?" I was sure I had.

"That girl you battled back in Cianwood? Yeah."

"I trained with her in Kanto a little while back."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. And I trained with a girl called Jean back in Violet."

"What are they like?" Forrest asked.

"Who? Hazel and Jean?"

"Yeah."

"Jean's kinda hyper. In fact, really hyper, all the time," I told him. "Hazel's more...Reserved, I suppose." Forrest looked like he was thinking for a moment.

"Is she nice looking?" He asked.

"You have a girlfriend!"

"Just answer the question."

"Uhh...Yeah, I guess," I answered, the question taking me by surprise.

"You like her," he accused, grinning.

"I don't," I lied, starting to blush and hating myself for it. In truth, I kind of did like her.

"Dude, you so do," he insisted, cackling in delight.

"Shut it." He just continued to laugh.

"Hazel and -" he started singing.

"I swear to God, I'll kill you in your sleep," I interrupted.

"Alright, fine." He put his hands up in a don't-shoot-me gesture.

"So, why did Marnie want to see her family all of a sudden?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Some family issue. She wouldn't tell me what it was and she wouldn't let me come with her," Forrest replied, shrugging. That sounded a little strange to me.

"Is she okay?"

"Who knows?" He sighed. "She won't answer my calls or reply to my texts, and just showing up at her house won't do me any favors," he went on.

"I guess you'll just have to wait until this family thing blows over, then," I said, rather unhelpfully.

"Doesn't seem like that'll be any time soon," he commented.

"It will come sooner than you think," I reassured him, yawning. That told me it was time to sleep.

We dug out our sleeping bags, our Pokemon all found places for the night, and we fell asleep under the cover of a nearby tree.

* * *

"It's beautiful," Forrest sighed, looking dreamily forwards.

"Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?" I asked.

"No." He was talking about Blackthorn City. After a few more days in the mountains, Blackthorn did indeed look welcoming and warm, but I didn't quite consider it beautiful.

We entered the City limits, looking for the Pokemon Center. We thought about asking for directions, but the people of Blackthorn were giving Forrest and I a wide berth. This puzzled me until I remembered that we were dirty and stinking, with torn up clothes and even a few bloodstains from the hostile native Pokemon. They probably thought we were diseased or something.

"You would think that finding one of the two biggest hot spots for trainers in the city would be easy," Forrest remarked. The other hot spot was the Gym.

"Wait," I said, standing up on a bench to get a better view. I could only just see the roof of the Pokemon Center over another building that looked like it belonged about five hundred years in the past. "That way!" I pointed in the direction of the Center.

"Joint room, or separate rooms?" The nurse asked when we arrived.

"Joint room," Forrest and I answered at once. We wanted to keep our money. So what if we were being cheap.

"Here you are then," she said, handing a key to each of us.

Our room happened to be at the very top floor, and multiple flights of stairs was the last thing we wanted to encounter.

"Oh my God," Forrest groaned, collapsing onto one of the beds.

"I hate stairs," I panted.

"So, Reece tomorrow?" Forrest grinned. He was looking forward to seeing me lose, which was a very real possibility.

"Yeah," I replied. Are you going to challenge him?"

"Is he as tough as people say he is?" Forrest asked.

"It took Tyson and Raynor three times each to beat him," I answered. A look of concern washed over Forrest's face.

"Really?"

"Yeah," I confirmed. "And I know that Raynor just barely managed to win on his third attempt," I added.

"Are you sure you want to challenge him yet?" Forrest was looking less and less enthusiastic.

"Positive."

"What if you get beaten?"

"I'll challenge him again."

"What if you get beaten three times?" I had to really think about this.

"You mean what if I get disqualified?" I asked.

"Yeah. What will you do then," he said.

"At the moment, it's not looking like I'll get eight badges in time for the Championship, so it doesn't really matter," I answered.

"When is the Championship again?" He asked.

"Let's see..." I started working it out in my head. "Last year's was three months before I started training. I started training about six months ago. That's nine months, and the Championship's a month later every year, so...Four months?"

"Yeah, I think that's right," Forrest replied. He didn't look too sure. "Why is it a month later every year, anyway?" He asked.

"Just so that it's not at the same time every year," I answered.

"Oh." He looked like he was thinking for a moment. "So, we'll probably be competing in next year's Championship, rather than this year's?"

"You have five badges. You could get the remaining three in four months," I said.

"Maybe, but I would get put out in the first round. I'm not good enough to compete in it," he replied.

"So you would actually rather wait until next year?" I asked.

"Yeah. I mean, Tyson and Raynor and Scarlett haven't competed in the Championship yet, and look at how good they are."

"Good point," I conceded.

"What will we even do after we've got eight badges? Just train for a year until the Championship?" Forrest didn't seem too thrilled by this idea. I had a better plan.

"Kanto," I said.

"What?"

"We could train in Kanto, go around challenging their Gyms at eight badge level. It would be good training and it would be fun," I suggested.

"I suppose," he considered.

We stayed up late into the night, just talking, before I decided to go to sleep in preparation for my upcoming Gym battle with Reece.

I was dreading it.


	43. Flames

Shedding Skins

Chapter Forty Three

Flames

* * *

My first thought was that I had walked into a swamp. The floor was covered in mud, there were large boulders scattered around the room, there were a few dead or dying trees that had been planted and there was even a small pool of muddy, dirty water.

All of that, however, was not as strange as the figure sitting atop one of the boulders. It was tall and thin, with papery, pale green skin. Although it was thin, the muscles underneath the skin were undeniable. It had long, narrow spines running along its arms and legs, as well green, rhombus shaped markings down the middle of its torso. It had a strange, deep green, pointed hat-thing atop its head, which cast its yellow, menacing eyes in shadow. It had a glass bottle of something clutched in one long fingered hand, and brought it to the row of holes that served as its mouth.

I noticed that the liquid the Cacturne was drinking was some form of alcohol.

"Welcome," a figure ahead of me said. "To the Blackthorn City Gym."

"Uhh...Hi," I said, lost for words. I was talking to Reece. Reece, as in the Reece that Tyson had been more or less terrified of. He was dressed for the outdoors, with boots, combat pants and a heavy jacket.

"Battle?" He asked, getting straight to the point.

"Yeah," I managed to say after a pause. I wasn't expecting him to be so normal. I had expecting something grander, more intimidating.

"How many badges have you got?"

"Four," I replied. Half way there. I handed over my license and waited for a second while he inspected it. "I'll be using two Pokemon," I said before he could ask. He handed me my license back.

"Let's get started then," he said, walking a bit away from me.

"Where are the boundaries?" I asked.

"There are no boundaries, anything in the Gym is fair game," he replied. "Two fours!" He shouted to seemingly no one, startling me. His Cacturne, still sitting on the boulder and sipping from the bottle, pulled a couple of pokeballs out of seemingly nowhere and threw them across the room, one by one, to Reece. "Thanks!"

He considered the two pokeballs then threw one down, releasing one of the most bizarre Pokemon I had ever seen. It was a bipedal bug, almost as tall as I was, with short, stubby legs and long, spindly arms. It was a muddy brown color, with a solid, armor-like exoskeleton and two huge horns on its head that resembled a single pincer. It had narrowed, angry looking eyes and what looked like a sideways mouth filled with sharp, serrated teeth.

I was torn. Skyler could make use of his fire to hopefully take down the bug, but he wouldn't be able to move very well through the mud. Ares, on the other hand, could simply fly. He could also make better use of other features in the strange battlefield, but I couldn't see him dealing a great deal of damage to the Pinsir.

I dropped Skyler's pokeball and he burst out of it in a flash of light. He made a strange hissing sound when he saw the Pinsir and started spitting out embers of blue-green fire. The Pinsir just stood there, looking angry.

"Harden," Reece said. He didn't seem to be concentrating on the battle, his attention seemed to be focused elsewhere instead.

The Pinsir gritted its teeth and seemed to tense up, but I saw no visible change. Harden didn't seem to have any effect.

"Dragonbreath!" I commanded.

"Left," Reece retaliated. Skyler spat a jet of the blue-green fire at the Pinsir, but it simply ducked to the left and the fire flew harmlessly past it. "Focus energy," Reece ordered. The thing seemed to tense again, started breathing more rapidly and looked even more ready to spring into action. This wasn't going to be easy.

"Dragonbreath," I tried again. I didn't have any other options, seeing as the Pinsir was far away.

"Up," Reece ordered. The Pinsir jumped up, over the stream of fire and landed in a crouch. "Run!" At Reece's command, the Pinsir started sprinting at full speed towards Skyler, looking like it would tear him apart when it reached him.

"Ember!" The Pinsir was close enough for that to work now. The cloud of embers would be more difficult to evade than the narrow stream of fire that dragonbreath produced. Skyler shot another stream of blue-green fire, which the Pinsir easily ducked under. "Ember!" I repeated, frustrated.

"Close combat," Reece countered. Skyler was about to disobey me again, but was interrupted by a punch from the Pinsir. Its fist crunched against Skyler's face, managing to punch perfectly through the hole in the front of his shell. Skyler let out a strangled hissing noise that I had never heard from him before. That had hurt. The Pinsir continued to throw punches, hammering at Skyler's face, legs and shell, even after he fell.

"Dammit," I muttered. I fumbled with his pokeball, trying to return him. I eventually succeeded. I let out a sigh of disappointment. I wasn't sure if Skyler had ever taken a beating that bad before. "Ares," I said to my dragonfly as he was released from his pokeball. I knew he would listen to me.

"Ancientpower!" I knew it would hurt the Pinsir, maybe even one hit KO it. Rocks rose up around Ares and floated there for a second or two, then flew forward at the Pinsir. I expected the Pinsir to try and avoid the rocks, but it did no such thing.

"Revenge," Reece smirked. The Pinsir took the hit head on, being struck by each and every one of the rocks. It was still standing, clearly in pain, but not as badly injured as I had hoped. I attributed it to the use of the move harden at the start of the battle. The Pinsir then dived at Ares, who was hovering about six feet in the air, and launched an uppercut the knocked him out immediately.

I was taken aback. I hadn't beaten even one of his Pokemon, and his Pinsir had knocked out Ares with one hit. I had been somewhat expecting to lose, but I hadn't expected to lose so badly.

"That was good," Reece encouraged me. "But you still need to train more."

"Yeah," I agreed, returning Ares. I was disappointed.

* * *

Ares had a concussion. It wasn't bad and the nurse told me he would be able to battle again in a day or two. Apparently Yanmega healed faster than humans.

Skyler wasn't so lucky. The Pinsir had broken his jaw, knocked out teeth, broke his leg and given him a whole load of bruises. His leg had been put in a cast and they had applied a dressing to his face. His teeth would apparently grow back, and his minor injuries would heal by themselves. I had no idea the Pinsir had caused that much damage.

I realized then that I had missed one crucial thing for most of my time as a trainer - strategy. Sure, I had used different tactics before, but nowhere near as often as I should have, and usually only when I couldn't beat my opponents through brute force.

"Body!" I shouted. Skyler shot a jet of blue-green fire into the air, hitting a Skarmory that wasn't too far off. It connected with the bird's chest and more or less knocked it out of the sky.

It was a week or so after my battle with Reece, and I had started training again as soon as I could. Skyler technically wasn't supposed to battle because of his injuries, but sniping the wild Pokemon from a distance, while he was out of harm's way, was perfectly fine.

I was trying to teach them new commands. Not just attacks, but other things that would help in battle, like directions, targets, etc. Ares already knew what the words "water", "fly" and "wall" meant, but apart from that, neither knew anything but attacking commands.

I was also trying to think of ways to deal with different Pokemon, not based on their type, but based on their style of battling. For example, I found that the best way to beat a Pokemon that relied on their speed, was to use a Pokemon faster than them. Fast Pokemon - and people - very rarely expected something to be faster than them.

I was constantly texting Tyson for advice about strategies and tactics, memorizing his replies and applying them to my team's training. I had also been practically glued to the Pokemon Center computers, looking up different structures, what kind of Pokemon worked best at what and how to break down an opponent's strategy. That last one was the most complicated.

I had tested this theory out one day, training in route thirty-six. I had met a six badge trainer with a Scyther and challenged him to a one on one battle. The Scyther was more powerful, more experienced and more skilled than any of my Pokemon, but Ares managed to beat it - although it was a close match. Without its speed advantage, it was at a loss for what to do, as was the trainer.

Forrest was still in Blackthorn, accompanying me while I trained sometimes, other times he would train in the Gym. He was just letting his Pokemon battle others and letting them learn on their own, the same way I had before I'd had to start training to beat Reece.

Although the training was primarily focused on tactics and strategies, Ares and Skyler had become somewhat stronger as well. While hurting some form of small Pokemon, Skyler found that he could use zen headbutt. It would have been great news if half of his skull hadn't been broken by that goddamn Pinsir. Ares didn't learn anything, which disappointed me.

River had improved by leaps and bounds. She was bigger, and no longer skinny looking. I could see the muscles starting to become clear under her coat - which was now thick and fluffy, the hairless patches no longer there. She could use both quick attack and bite, as well as several non offensive moves. The water stone attached to her collar seemed to be taking effect as she now had the very beginnings of a forked tail, and I could feel fish-like scales underneath her fur - when she allowed me to touch her without opening up a few dozen cuts on my hands, that was.

She wasn't anywhere near the strength of Skyler or Ares, but she was still improving, and would be even stronger after her evolution.

"Circle!" I called to Ares, who was battling a wild Gligar. The thing was surprisingly fast, and able to fly as well. Ares started flying as fast as he could, circling his opponent, who tried in vain to stay facing him at all times, succeeding only in making itself trip over its own feet. "Now!" Ares flew in as it tripped and struck it with half a dozen quick attacks before it could regain its footing. It no longer had the will to battle and just glided off.

Within a week, I had improved more than I usually did in a month. My Pokemon - River aside - hadn't become very much stronger, but I had strategy on my side now. Not to the same kind of level as Reece, or the other professional trainers, but at least I could work around my team's weaknesses with tactics now.

One thought kept coming to mind, though. Every time I thought of how much I had improved, it kept reminding me that my team was far from perfect. I had only two real fighters. River, with time and training, might be able to match Ares and Skyler, but even then, that was just half of a team.

I had become much weaker as a trainer after losing Naja and Cerletti. The emotional turmoil had been far worse, but I had also lost two great fighters.

"C'mon," I called to my team. They seemed to have knocked out every Pokemon in the area, so there wasn't really any point in staying.

I spotted a forest close by and decided that it would be as good a place as any to train, so we started heading there. We walked - or in Ares' case, flew - for about twenty minutes until we reached it. We entered the forest, which reminded me of Ilex Forest, but more hellish.

"Jesus!" I threw myself against a tree and managed to evade the Beedrill that came at me. It stabbed at the spot where my head had just been. "Get it!" I wasn't talking to any of my Pokemon in particular, but - no surprise - Skyler decided to take it upon himself to carry out the action.

He breathed a cloud of fire over the insect and set it aflame. It then started buzzing wildly about, crashing into trees and also setting them alight.

I didn't even bother with words, I just returned everyone but Skyler. He knew what to do. He shot a pressurized pillar of water from his mouth which crashed through the trees, dousing the flames. He shot five of these before he ran out of water, but the fire was catching. Despite his best efforts, the forest was still burning up around us.

"Fuck!" I cursed, returning Skyler. I considered using Ares to fly out of the area, but he would burn up the moment he was out of his ball, so instead I started running in the direction that I hoped was the way we had come.

I was out of breath, I was coughing and hacking, my eyes were watering because of the smoke and I was half blind. Everywhere looked the same to me, just burning trees and burning bushes. I was positive that I was going to die.

I was lost for what to do. I stopped and looked around, looking for an exit, even though I knew I wouldn't find one.

Movement caught my eye off to my left. I saw a shadow standing in the flames. It looked like the height of a human, but in my half blindness, I couldn't distinguish anything else about it. I staggered towards it, figuring that it was my best hope.

As I moved towards the figure, it moved away from me. I didn't care, if it was moving, then surely it knew of an exit nearby?

I tripped over something and sprawled forwards, landing on my face. It took me a moment to realize that I had stumbled out of the forest, and a few moments more to realize that the figure wasn't human like at all, it was in fact a large, powerful, coiled snake that I would have recognized anywhere.


	44. Rematch

Shedding Skins

Chapter Forty Four

Rematch

* * *

The first thing I noticed was that Naja was out of practice. These weeks training in the mountains had really toughened up Ares and Skyler, even River to a certain extent, but Naja had went weeks on end without that sort of training. He was overall weaker than the other two, and seemed to have lost his flair for battling.

"Ice fang!" I shouted at Naja. He was battling against a wild Donphan and not doing very well. Their speed was more or less equal, it was far stronger and more aggressive than Naja, and he had only his intelligence on his side. His ice fang missed and the Donphan threw him into a wall. He managed to get up again, but didn't look too great.

"Trip!" I voiced my command as the miniature elephant started charging again. Naja weaved around the Donphan and wrapped his tail around its front ankle, causing it to fall face first into the wall. Although it had worked, it had been clumsy and slow, not the kind of standard he needed to be at when battling Reece.

While it was down, he finished it with an ice fang to the back of the neck. At least he wasn't above that kind of thing.

"Too slow," I remarked. He simply hissed in reply.

Naja was part of my team again, but he still wasn't my biggest fan. We had a long way to go before things would be back to normal.

Another week later, and I was still training to get my team up to scratch. They needed to be strong, they needed to be able to follow commands and I had to be able to give the right commands. We weren't there yet, but we were coming together.

"Come on, again," I said wearily, gesturing to an Ursaring that was lumbering towards us. Naja cast me a disdainful look and slithered on towards it. When he was close enough, he drenched it in acid. It got angry, went for Naja, and he wrapped his tail around its ankle and jerked. It was quicker and cleaner this time, but still not good enough.

"Skyler, hydro pump! Aim for the legs!" I shouted to my dragon, who was using dragonbreath attacks to keep a wild Ursaring at bay. He obeyed and fired off a jet of water at the bear's knees, bringing it to the ground.

Skyler was continuing to improve, even with his broken leg and damaged face. He was steadily growing bigger, and I wondered when he would evolve. It seemed like forever since he had evolved into a Shelgon.

"Circle!" I called to Ares. He was battling a wild Skarmory and not doing very well. At my command, he started circling the metal bird at high speed. It tried to stay facing Ares at all times, but it failed miserably and only succeeded in confusing itself a little. As soon as Ares saw an opening, he went for it and took out the bird. He was improving as well.

I was frustrated with Naja's current ineptitude at battling. He still needed to catch up to the others, and they were improving at least as fast as he was. It didn't look like he would be up to the same level as the others any time soon.

"Face!" I shouted to Naja, changing to a different tactic. He launched himself at the Ursaring and sank his fangs into its face. It let out a bellow of rage and pain before starting to struggle with Naja.

So, I trained, I waited and I planned, looking for the perfect time to challenge Reece yet again.

* * *

Two more weeks passed, and my team as a whole had improved. Naja still hadn't caught up to Ares and Skyler, but he had regained his former fighting ability.

Skyler had almost fully recovered from his beating at the hands of the Pinsir, and was fully capable of battling again.

Since Skyler had temporarily been limited in his ability to train due to his weakness, Ares had surpassed him in ability.

Forrest was still staying in Blackthorn, which surprised me, but I hadn't been talking to him a whole lot, instead focusing on my team.

I approached the Gym and pushed through the doors almost casually. I'd had so many Gym battles by this point that it was no longer a big deal. It was almost routine.

"You again?" I heard Reece ask. He was sitting atop one of the boulders, his Cacturne by his side. I still found the thing creepy looking. It had a way of looking at you from beneath that plant-hat thing that gave the impression that it knew everything about you, made you think that there was nothing you could hide from it.

"Yeah," I replied. I was positive I was ready for him.

"Okay then. Since this is a rematch, we can skip the officialities and get down to business," he informed me. "How many Pokemon are you using?"

"Three," I answered after a brief pause. He reached into a hole in the boulder and retrieved three pokeballs.

"Ready?" He asked. I nodded. He dropped one of the pokeballs and out burst - as I had suspected - the Pinsir once again. It looked just a crazed as it had the day of our last challenge.

I dropped Skyler's pokeball and released him. He would be seeking revenge.

"Legs!" I commanded as soon as he was out of the ball. The Pinsir had no long range attacks while Skyler did. If Skyler injured its legs, it would be unable to close the distance between them and the battle would be ours for the taking.

"Left," Reece retaliated. The Pinsir danced to the left just as the jet of blue-green fire scorched the area where it had been standing just a moment before. It didn't fully evade the attack, however, and sustained a small burn on one leg.

Result.

"Again!" I ordered, aiming to injure it further while it was down.

"Boulder!" Reece countered. The Pinsir threw itself haphazardly forward - managing to completely avoid Skyler's dragonbreath - and behind a boulder to its left. Not good.

Reece then made some form of hand gesture to the Pinsir. What the gesture meant, I had no idea, nor could I even hazard a guess, seeing as the Pinsir was ehind the rock and out of sight.

I simply waited for it to make its move, but nothing happened for about half a minute. I was really starting to get confused when I saw a hand coming out of the ground, reaching for Skyler's ankle. It must have known dig. Dammit.

"Hydro pump!" I practically screamed. Skyler was confused as to what he was supposed to aim at until he spotted the hand reaching for him. He blasted the dirt at his feet with water, turning it into a sea of mud and sweeping the Pinsir away.

So much for careful planning.

"Submission," Reece said calmly. The Pinsir awkwardly stumbled forward, nearly falling several times due to its injured leg, towards Skyler.

"Zen headbutt," I smirked. As the Pinsir ran forward, Skyler rammed into it, a blue glow emanating from the hole at the front of his armor. The Pinsir stumbled back, one hand clutching its face.

I saw Reece reaching for the thing's pokeball, but at the same time, I saw flames spouting from Skyler's mouth. He released an ember attack, the cloud of fire covering the Pinsir. It screeched and started flailing, but fortunately didn't catch fire due to being covered in water and mud.

"Skyler!" I bellowed, furious with him. He didn't seem to care.

The Pinsir disappeared back inside its pokeball then and, before I had a chance to react, Reece released his second Pokemon. I recognized it all too well. A large, primarily black and red spider with blue and yellow striped legs and a single horn on its face. It had curved, cruel mouth parts and large, staring blue compound eyes.

Reece gave out a command, but I was too shocked for it to penetrate my thoughts. I simply stared at the creature as it launched itself at Skyler, flying through the air faster than I would have thought possible and knocking him onto his side.

I screamed when it jumped and tried to back away, but I tripped over my own feet and landed on my back, still trying to scrabble away from it, the exact same way I had done just over half a year ago.

Thoughts of the battle penetrated the confused, terrified haze that was my mind, and I looked over to see what was happening. The creature was sitting atop Skyler, who still hadn't got to his feet and was covered in webbing and multiple bite wounds. I fumbled with his pokeball and managed to return him.

"Are you okay?" Reece asked, concerned. He obviously didn't see what the problem was.

"Yeah," I lied, nodding my head and getting to my feet. I was covered in mud from my fall, but I didn't care in the slightest. There were only two things that mattered to me; winning the battle, and not getting eaten by the giant spider.

I let out Ares. From a tactical point of view, he was clearly the better choice. He could stay out of the thing's way by flying, his flying type gave him an advantage, he was stronger than Naja - my only other remaining Pokemon aside from River, who obviously wasn't an option - and also bigger, stronger and faster than the Ariados. It had nothing on Ares.

"Get it!" I almost wailed. In my scared, confused state, I couldn't really form any complicated thoughts.

The creature jumped into the air again and managed to land atop Ares.

"Wings," Reece ordered. I realized just then what his plan was.

"Sonicboom!" I screamed. The rapid beating of his wings knocked the giant spider off his back before it could attack. I breathed a sigh of relief - if that attack had worked, the battle would be lost.

The Ariados landed on a rock and just sat there, waiting for Reece to give a command. "Electroweb."

The spider started jumping, moving between rocks and trees and the ground, spinning its web as it went. It moved faster than I would have expected. When it was done, it attached the last piece to a rock and the web started sparking with electricity.

My first thought was "I'm so screwed."

"Keep flying," I said to Ares, knowing that he would be in trouble if he so much as touched that web. "Now, ancientpower!"

Rocks started floating around him and then flew through the air at the Ariados. It jumped and evaded all but one of the rocks, which hit it in mid air and caused it to start tumbling in mid air.

"Night slash!" Ares dived at it, but it simply jumped away and landed in the center of its web. "Night slash!" I repeated. I had a plan.

Ares dived straight at it again and opened up a large cut along its back. He continued on, though, and made contact with the web. It gave him a substantial shock, but he also managed to cut the web right down the middle. The Ariados tumbled from the web and landed on its back, unable to right itself again.

"Poison sting," Reece said calmly.

"Bug bite!" I retaliated. Ares tore a chunk of flesh from its abdomen, but the Ariados sunk its fangs into Ares' side, injecting its venom.

Reece and I both knew that our Pokemon were finished for the time being, and returned them.

I dropped Naja's pokeball and he was released in a flash of light. I was not confident. He was still weaker than Ares and Skyler, both of who had already been beaten. I didn't like my odds.

Naja's opponent was a large, red and white predator of some sort. It stood on its hind legs was nearly my height, with a robust, muscular build. Overall, it had the look of a weasel crossed with a cat, although it had huge, black, cruel looking claws that wouldn't have belonged on either of those. It also had a large, fluffy tail that looked completely out of place on the streamlined, deadly creature.

"Crush claw," Reece commanded. The Zangoose dashed forward and slammed on clawed hand down onto Naja, pinning him to the ground by the middle of his body.

"Fire fang," I ordered. Had Naja not had such a long, serpentine body, he would have been immobilized by the attack.

He latched onto the Zangoose's shoulder with his jaws, which were now dripping with fire. The Zangoose let out a cry of pain, but did not let go of Naja. Instead, it pushed harder, crushing Naja's body further into the ground. Naja responded in kind, biting down harder with his fiery fangs. They struggled like that until they both released, almost simultaneously.

"Slash!" Reece seemed to have given up on strategy and was now using brute force.

"Crunch!" I countered.

Naja simply weaved around the clawed arm and clamped down on the Zangoose's side with his jaws.

"Revenge." The Zangoose swung its arm and hit Naja, sending him into the nearest boulder.

"Acid!" Naja spewed a stream of the purple liquid at the Zangoose. It dashed to one side and most of the acid missed, but some of it drenched its side.

"Slash!" It dashed at Naja and swiped at him with its huge claws. He slithered out the way, but the Zangoose somehow managed to hit the end of his tail, taking about a foot of it off. The foot of tail still wriggled after it was severed.

Naja let out a sharp hiss and went for the Zangoose's face with a thunder fang. He sunk his crackling fangs into its cheek and tried to hold on, even as the predator convulsed and spasmed as it was electrocuted.

He held on long enough for Reece's last Pokemon to faint.

We had won.

"Well done," Reece commended me. "Here you go," he handed me a TM and a handful of money. I read the TM - it was ice beam. That would be useful if any of my Pokemon could learn it. River? Skyler maybe?

"Thanks," I said.

"You're welcome," he replied, handing me something else. It was a badge, shaped like his Cacturne's hat-like thing. I pocketed it with a smile - I had more than half of Johto's badges now. "Oh yeah, license?"

"Oh, right," I said, handing him said license. He turned it over, took out a pen and signed one of the boxes.

"There you go," he said. "See you later."

"Bye," I called back as I left.

Yes. Five badges.


	45. Vengeance

Shedding Skins

Chapter Forty Five

Vengeance

* * *

"No you didn't."

"Yeah, I did," I insisted.

"You beat him on your second try? Honestly?" Tyson was having a hard time believing that I had beaten Reece.

"Yeah," I said down the phone. "I'll show you my badge next time I see you then," I added.

"Alright then," he laughed. "Dammit, I need to go. Official business and all that," he grumbled.

"Bye then."

"Bye."

From Blackthorn, we had trekked back down the mountains, through Cherrygrove and back to Violet City. We didn't have the equipment to go through the ice path - we would end up freezing to death if we tried - so our only option was to go back down the mountains.

We could also have used Forrest's Xatu to simply teleport to wherever we wanted to go, but where was the fun in that?

Forrest was planning to get his sixth badge from Kate. After that, we were planning on going to Cianwood to beat L.J, seeing as he was the only one that neither of us had beaten yet. We weren't really sure what to do after that.

"Who was that?" Forrest asked, walking into our room at the Center.

"Just Tyson," I replied, pocketing my phone.

"Ah," he said, sitting down on his bed and releasing his team. It was cramped with all eight of our Pokemon, as well as us, but our teams preferred to be out of their pokeballs.

"Have you still not heard from Marnie?" I asked. His face immediately fell.

"No. She still won't answer my calls," he grumbled.

"That sucks," I replied lamely.

"It's getting ridiculous. I'm just going to go to her house after I get my badge tomorrow," he decided. So much for our plans.

"Probably a good idea," I reassured him. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he was frustrated by Marnie.

"It's been over a month!" He practically growled. This surprised me. I hadn't ever seen Forrest getting angry.

"Yeah, but there's probably a good explanation," I said, defending Marnie, even though I sensed she didn't deserve it.

"Right," he snorted. This was out of character.

"It's kind of late. We should go to sleep," I suggested.

"Yeah," he said, nodding. He seemed to be calming down.

He fell asleep instantly, but I didn't. My thoughts kept me awake.

What could possibly be so important that Marnie had been out of contact with Forrest for over a month? I didn't think she was in any sort of danger - I knew she could take care of herself - but something was definitely up.

* * *

The next morning brought several changes.

For one, Forrest was no longer in a foul mood. He was still planning to go to Marnie's home in Cherrygrove after his Gym battle, but at least he wasn't in a rage.

Second of all, I no longer had a Shelgon on my team, instead, I had a gigantic, ferocious Salamence. I was having a hard time believing that I had a pseudo legendary dragon on my team.

River had also evolved into a Vaporeon, but that paled in comparison to Skyler's new evolution, so I didn't pay very much attention to that.

Also, Forrest had his Gym battle.

"Crunch!" Forrest shouted. Aard had been knocked out almost immediately, so he had to send out Marine. He had chosen to use only two Pokemon, so his Floatzel had to beat both of Kate's Pokemon.

"Get back!" Kate countered, but it was too late. Marine obeyed his trainer's command and bit down hard on the Slowbro's side. It swam frantically away when Marine let go.

"Pursuit!" Forrest instructed. Marine jumped and landed on the back of the unfortunate psychic, tearing at its back with his teeth. I decided I never wanted to get on the wrong side of the Floatzel.

I was watching from the poolside, while Ares was having fun skating in the main section of the pool. River was having the time of her life as well, dashing around the pool, beating up some of the weaker Pokemon and just generally having a good time. Skyler and Naja hadn't wanted to go swimming.

Kate returned her Slowbro and released her next Pokemon, which was considerably more worrying. It was a huge, blue serpentine Pokemon, with a white underside, a single horn and a wing on either side of its head.

"Twister!" The Dragonair blew a small typhoon from its mouth which sent water everywhere and caused a small hurricane. The Dragonair managed to fight against the raging water, but the much smaller Floatzel was thrown around and battered off the sides of the pool.

"Marine?" Forrest said, looking for his Pokemon. He surfaced a few seconds later, bleeding from a large gash on his head. "Aqua jet!"

"Wrap!" Kate countered.

Marine plowed through the water like a speed boat and crashed into the Dragonair's face, actually knocking a tooth out. The Dragonair replied with its own attack, wrapping its long, slender body around Marine and starting to squeeze. It was the moment Forrest had been looking for.

"Ice fang!" He smirked. Kate's eyes widened as she realized she had made a mistake.

The Floatzel sunk his frost covered fangs into the Dragonair's body, hung on and started shaking his head. The dragon shrieked in pain and started thrashing, but Marine held on. It struggled for a few more seconds before going limp and sinking under the water. Fortunately, Kate returned it before it could drown.

Forrest walked around the side of the pool, received his prize money, TM and badge, then handed over his license. Kate signed the back of it, handed it back and waved farewell.

"Six badges," Forrest smiled, looking at the small, pronged badge he held between his thumb and forefinger.

"That's you got a class four license then?" I asked.

"Is it? Oh, yeah," he chuckled as we left. I didn't miss the glare that Kate gave me - not like I particularly cared.

"So, you heading to Marnie's then?" I asked when we got outside.

"Yeah," he replied. I could tell he wasn't looking forward to it.

"Well, see you later," I said, bidding him farewell.

"Yeah -" Forrest started, but he was interrupted by his phone ringing. "Dammit. Wait a second..." He dug his phone out of his pocket and answered it.

"Is it Marnie?" I asked. It seemed somewhat likely. Forrest shook his head. Oh well.

"Yeah," Forrest answered down the phone. "What? Why?" I heard him ask. I had absolutely no clue what was going on. "I can be there in a second," he said before hanging up. He put on hand to his face and let out a sigh.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"I don't know. Can I ask you to come to Goldenrod with me?" He asked.

"I guess...But why?" I asked, confused. There was no reason to go to Goldenrod, seeing as we had both beaten Zach.

"I guess we'll find out," he sighed, releasing his Xatu. "Pinel, Goldenrod," Forrest said. The bird held up its wings. Forrest took one, I uncertainly took the other and we all vanished.

* * *

"Wait, what?" I asked. I knew what I had heard, but it couldn't possibly be true.

"She's been arrested for grievous bodily harm and a number of other offences," the police officer informed us.

"Are you serious? Why would she do that?" Forrest was having an even harder time believing it than I was.

"Ask her yourself," he replied, standing up and gesturing for us to follow. We were then led to temporary holding cells on the floor below, but only after being put through a few dozen security measures. We were let into a cramped, gloomy, dirty cell that was Marnie's temporary home.

Forrest crossed the room in about a second and wrapped his arms around Marnie. It didn't look like he was planning to let go any time soon.

"What the hell's going on?" He sounded close to tears.

"Yeah, you've been out of contact for over a month. What's happening?" I asked. She let go of Forrest and gently pushed him away from her.

"Hawkes' guys attacked my family," she growled, looking like she wanted to tear something apart.

"I didn't think your family were trainers," I remarked.

"They're not, but they keep a few Pokemon as pets," she explained. "That was a decent enough excuse for the bastards to beat them within an inch of their lives," she went on.

"Are they okay?" Forrest interrupted, clearly dreading the answer.

"My dad got roughed up, but he'll live. My mom got stabbed with a screwdriver and nearly died. She's okay now, but it could have been worse. My little brother...Well, we don't know if he'll be alright," she answered, looking like she was about to cry.

"Right, but why have you been arrested?" Forrest asked.

"I spent nearly the last month tracking down the guys that did it. I found them in Olivine and attacked them. My team fucked them up. One of them's paralyzed from the waist down and the others need reconstructive surgery," she told us, not seeming to regret it in the slightest. I knew I would have done the same thing in her position. In fact, probably worse.

"You...You did that?" Forrest asked, disbelieving.

"Yeah," she replied, not seeing anything wrong with it.

"I can't believe you," he groaned, burying his face in his hands.

"Don't you think they deserved it?" She asked, voice low, angry.

"That makes you just as bad as them!" He hissed. "And apart from anything else, now you're going to prison!"

"Shut up, Forrest," I growled.

"You're on her side?" He asked, betrayed.

"Her little brother might die. What she did was completely justified, and any sane person would agree!" I was genuinely angry with Forrest now. I knew that our views on violence were completely different, but we had never really dwelled on our differences before.

"So you would have done the same thing?" He was getting angry at me now, which only made me angrier at him.

"No, I wouldn't. If it was me they wouldn't still be breathing," I said quietly. The thing that scared me the most was that I knew my statement was completely true.

"You don't mean that," Forrest dismissed with a wave of his hand.

"You'd probably do the same. You've never been in this position, so you don't know what you'd do!" Marnie raged.

"I know myself well enough to know that I would never kill someone," Forrest argued.

"I didn't kill anyone," Marnie smirked. Forrest gave her a glare that could put Naja to shame.

"I would never do what you did," he insisted.

"Well there's something wrong with you then," she practically spat. I sensed that this wasn't the first time they had argued.

"D'you know what? Forget it. We'll just have to agree to disagree," Forrest said, although reluctantly. He still wasn't happy.

"Yeah," I agreed, even though I wanted to punch him in the face.

"We need to figure out what to do," he said, taking a deep breath to calm himself.

"Call Raynor," Marnie suggested.

"What? Why?" Forrest looked surprised.

"He's smart. He'll know something helpful," she explained. "Tyson and Scarlett are more likely to just walk in and start punching people," she added. This elicited a small laugh from us all.

Forrest took out his phone and started dialling.

* * *

Author's Note : Woo! I've reached my target amount of words - 100,000.

Just saying, though, I think this story's a long way from over.


	46. Law and Order

Shedding Skins

Chapter Forty Six

Law and Order

* * *

It was unnerving how easily Forrest and I could ignore our differences and just pretend something hadn't happened. I had been seconds from actually throwing a punch earlier, and I would have been surprised if Forrest didn't feel the same way, yet we could go back to being best friends as soon as we changed the subject. It had happened before, back in Cianwood, and I knew it would probably happen again.

"Oh my God, are you kidding me?" Raynor groaned, knowing what the answer would be. I noticed that every time I saw the dark haired trainer, he looked more weary and more stressed. It was actually a little concerning.

"No," Marnie replied.

"You could not have picked a worse time. In case you haven't noticed, trainers aren't exactly liked at the moment," he sighed.

"Is there anything you can do about it?" Forrest asked, pensive.

"Yeah. I'll need to get Tyson and Scarlett, but we'll get Marnie out today or tomorrow," he replied, although he didn't look happy about it.

"Thanks," Marnie said, looking sincere for once.

"Just don't do anything so stupid again," Raynor warned her.

"So punishing them for near enough killing my family was stupid?" She demanded.

"No, getting caught was the stupid part," he replied. "Just...Just wait, we'll get this sorted," he said wearily.

* * *

Tyson and Scarlett appeared briefly soon after that, then the three older trainers disappeared for the rest of the day. What they were doing was a mystery to me.

Forrest and I spent the day lazing about in a room at the Center, wishing for time to pass more quickly. We weren't allowed back in to see Marnie, so there wasn't really anything to do.

"How do you think they're going to sort this?" Forrest asked. He had been nervous for the whole day.

"Probably in an illegal kind of way," I replied absent-mindedly, flicking through an old training book I had found at the bottom of my bag. It was basically a pokedex in paper form, listing the details of all six hundred and forty-nine known species of Pokemon.

"I'm being serious," Forrest told me.

"So am I," I responded. I could believe that Raynor would be responsible, but Scarlett and Tyson? As Marnie had said earlier, they would just start punching people. That seemed to be their policy - punch people first, ask them questions later.

"Seen anything you like?" Forrest asked, changing the subject. He probably didn't want to think about Marnie's incarceration.

"Yeah, but nothing native to Johto," I answered. "An Infernape would be awesome, but it says they're critically endangered in the wild and captive ones are only distributed by the Sinnoh League."

"Nothing else?"

"Yeah, but nothing that's practical," I grumbled. "Electivire are amazing, but then I'd need to get an electrizer to evolve it, and I don't even know where to go about getting one of those."

"I've never seen one in real life, only on T.V and stuff," he remarked.

"Why are starters so rare anyway?" I asked, talking to myself as much as to Forrest.

"I don't know, but Raynor has a Sceptile, so you must be able to get them somehow," he told me.

"Yeah, Tyson's got a Swampert and Scarlett probably has a starter as well," I mused.

"Where do you think they get them?" I asked.

"They could've traded for them," Forrest suggested.

"Yeah. Or maybe they just spend ages looking for them in the wild," I said.

"They could have bought them from breeders," Forrest pointed out.

I was about to say something else, but someone opened the door and walked in. Well, three people walked in.

"Alright, it's fixed, we just need to go and pick her up from the police station," Raynor told Forrest and I.

"Thanks so much," Forrest said, letting out a great sigh of relief.

"You better be grateful. We'll get in deep shit if anyone finds out what we did," Scarlett almost snarled.

"What did you do?" I inquired.

"Burned evidence and wiped memories," Tyson answered with a grin.

"How do you wipe someone's memory?" Forrest spoke.

"Psychics can do it. Not that hard actually," Tyson said, as though it was an everyday thing.

"Told you they'd do something illegal," I gloated. Before Forrest could tell me to shut up, someone else spoke.

"And you!" Raynor pointed a finger at me. I was taken aback by this.

"What?" I asked, genuinely confused. I hadn't caused any trouble recently, had I?

"Stay away from Hawkes and his guys! We heard that you attacked a couple more of them after you left Azelea," he accused.

"They were attacking a girl! What was I meant to do?"

"I had this conversation with Marnie already," he said, patience wearing thin. "Do whatever you want, as long as you don't get caught," he went on.

"I didn't get caught, though..." I murmured. I was getting really confused.

"Not by the police, but Hawkes' guys know your name and they know your face," he explained. "Just watch your back, and don't piss them off any further."

"If I've already pissed them off so much, why aren't they coming after me?"

"They're scared of you," Tyson chipped in.

"Thanks for that," Raynor said dryly.

"Don't get full of yourself, but most of the guys that go up against you end up maimed and mutilated," Scarlett elaborated. "Or dead, and ,you know, most people aren't cool with that."

"What if I just keep up a scary reputation? Would that keep them away?" I asked.

"Not if you keep pissing them off," Raynor replied.

"Yeah. The guys you've fought so far use crowbars and hockey sticks. Eventually, Hawkes would just send someone to put one in your head," Scarlett explained. Understandably, I did not like the sound of that.

"So, try to keep out of their way, and cover my tracks if I can't?"

"Yeah," Tyson confirmed.

* * *

"Let's see the badge," Tyson demanded at the first opportunity he got. Scarlett had departed already and Raynor was tying up some loose ends regarding Marnie's situation. Forrest was training in route thirty-four, while Tyson and I were just relaxing route thirty-five.

"Here you go," I replied, tossing the badge to him. He looked it over for a minute, as if suspecting it to be a fake, before handing it back to me with a grin on his face.

"You're doing great," he commended me.

"I know," I replied cockily, making him laugh a little.

"Here, check this out," he said, throwing down a pokeball. "Just caught this last week, but I've wanted one for ages." I recognized it from my travels. It was about ten feet long, snake-like and made up of rocks. The rocks got bigger as they neared its horned, somewhat pointed face.

"An Onix? But I thought they were big enough to destroy entire cities," I remarked, thinking back to the meter long one I had encountered in Union Cave.

"If they were that big, how would beginners manage to get through Union Cave?" He made a good point.

"Then why do people say they're so huge?"

"Newborn Onix aren't usually longer than a foot, but they grow continually throughout their whole lives. Considering they have a ridiculously long lifespan, that lets them grow pretty big," he explained. "Saying that, it takes years for them to grow into the kind of Pokemon that could threaten whole cities."

"How long will it be before yours is that big?"

"Anywhere between ten and fifteen years. He'll still grow after that, but at a much slower rate," he answered.

"Ah. You got any new team members?" I asked, curious to see what other Pokemon he had.

"Not with me, no. I've got Hunter and Argon - who evolved, by the way - as well as Ore here," he said, gesturing to his dwarfish Onix. "And a few others. In fact, I don't think you've ever seen them," he went on.

"I've seen Hunter, Argon, Zener and your Swampert," I told him.

"Ah. Well then," he replied, throwing the rest of his pokeballs. I recognized the form of his flying, prehistoric killer dinosaur, but I hadn't seen the rest.

One of them was huge, taller than I was, with a hulking, orange body that was equal parts fat and muscle. Its wings were far too small for its titanic body, and I didn't see any way that it could use them to fly. I had never seen one in real life before, but everybody was familiar with Dragonite. Well, at least the T.V portrayal of them, which made them out to be fat and clumsy, but friendly and comical idiots. This thing had a sharp, focused expression and looked like it would have no problem with physically ripping a house out of the ground.

The next one I saw was about the same height as Argon, but couldn't have been anywhere near the same weight. It was a large, flightless bird, with a small, round body, long, powerful legs and long, sinuous neck. The head that sat atop the neck had a long, narrow beak, a back, V-shaped crest and looked absolutely furious. I also noticed two limp, dangling appendages attached to the body, one on either side of the neck. It was then that I realized what the appendages were: they were necks. It was a Dodrio, but only the middle head remained.

I saw yet another one that was taller than me, this time a monstrous, red and black mantis, with large wings and claws that - by the looks of them - could tear chunks out of just about anything. The claws were deceptively patterned so as to look like heads, with a false eye on either side and the opening of the claw acting as the mouth. As I was staring at it, it retracted its thin, transparent wings into two appendages on its back. Awesome.

The last member of his team was also taller than me, as well as - by the looks of it - many times heavier. It had two yellow, eye like markings on its chest and a yellow, mouth like zig-zag on its belly. It had two thick, muscular arms with two yellow bands on each and a thick cuff like formation before its large, grey hands. It had a strange, cylindrical head, what appeared to be tattered lapels and a single red eye. Overall, it just exuded a feeling of dread.

"Yeah, that's Argon," he told me, gesturing to the colossal dragon. "He's still temperamental, but he's loyal. From what I've heard, similar to your dragon," he went on.

"Skyler? He's just plain psychotic," I responded.

"Maybe," he laughed.

"What happened to..." I trailed off, pointing in the direction of his one headed Dodrio.

"Well, you know that each head has its own different personality?" He asked. I nodded. "Yeah, they usually get along with each other. In this case, they didn't, and angry here actually ripped the other two heads off so that he alone could control the body," he explained.

"They can survive like that?" I was somewhat surprised.

"Yeah. So can other Pokemon, like Girafarig, Exeggutor, Hydreigon and Wobuffet. There are others that need each other, though, like Dugtrio and Magneton," he answered. "There are others with multiple heads and stuff, but I can't remember what the deal with them is," he added.

"What's your strongest Pokemon?" I asked, just out of curiosity.

"Probably Hunter. He's one of the most experienced, he's ruthless and he's fiercely loyal. Not to say the others aren't, but he's even more so," he replied. "What's yours?"

I had to actually think about this. Naja was the most experienced, as well as the most intelligent, but he had fallen behind and didn't look like he'd catch up any time soon and even after her evolution, River still had a long way to go before she was as good as the others, so it was between Ares and Skyler. On one hand, Ares was more experienced and more reliable, he could hit fast and he could hit hard. On the other hand, Skyler's aggression gave him an edge in battle, and now that he had evolved, his brute strength was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

"I'm going with Skyler," I answered.

"I agree. There's a reason you need a class three license to own a pseudo legendary," he remarked.

"Class three? I figured it would be class four?" I said.

"It's borderline. They're about as close to being class four - without actually being it - as you can get. Well, actually, they are class four in Hoenn, but they have stricter Pokemon legislation," he replied.

"Really?"

"Yeah. You know the legal training age there is fifteen, not thirteen?" He informed me.

"That's stupid," I responded.

"Actually it's not. It means people have to stay in school longer, get a better education, sit their exams and it means if training doesn't work out, then you'll have some kind of qualification so you can get a real job," he explained.

"Oh." That actually did make sense. "Anyway, when is Marnie getting out?" I changed the subject.

"Probably within the next hour. Raynor's going to mess with the memories of her victims just now," he replied.

"Won't it be obvious if they wake up crippled and don't remember how it happened?"

"They'll remember the whole thing, they just won't remember Marnie's face," he explained.

"Can you not get into a whole lot of shit for that?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"More than you can imagine, but only if we get caught. Anyway, we can take care of ourselves. We've assaulted government officials before and got away with it, as well as a whole lot of other things," he laughed. I found it strange that he was laughing at attacking government officials. I found it unnerving that I thought it was funny.


	47. Surprises

Shedding Skins

Chapter Forty Seven

Surprises

* * *

"Jesus!" I screamed, wrapping my arms tighter around Skyler's neck. The idea of flying had seemed fun at first, but it seemed much less so once I was in the air. I was freezing, I was barely managing to hold on and I was terrified. Overall, I wished I had just taken the boat instead.

Just when I thought I my heart couldn't take any more stress, Skyler touched down on the beach.

It had taken me ten days to get from Goldenrod to Olivine - I could have traveled quicker, but I was in no rush - and an extra hour to fly over the sea to Cianwood. Skyler was a very fast flyer. He wasn't as fast as Ares, but he could carry me for long periods of time, unlike my giant dragonfly, who could only carry me for short bursts.

"Thanks for that," I said to my dragon, half sincere, half sarcastic. I then returned him to his Pokeball and released my new-ish Vaporeon.

She was more or less a third cat, a third dog and a third fish. She could now breathe and live underwater, but could survive perfectly well on land as well, although she now had a liking for water. I had unfairly ignored her because she still wasn't particularly loyal or friendly, and because Skyler's new evolution into a demonic murder dragon had stolen my attention.

"Let's go," I said to her, and started walking towards the Gym. Thankfully, she followed me. We walked through the city until we came to the Gym, River actually behaving herself all the while.

I pushed through the doors and walked into someone. I was about to apologize, but then I recognized the person. It was a boy, about my age, tall and thin with black hair, cropped short.

"Oh. It's you," I said. Damian had briefly trained with Forrest, Marnie and I a few months ago, but I still wasn't particularly fond of him. I was sure he felt the same way.

"Nice to see you're as cheery as usual," he replied. I couldn't really think of anything to say to that, seeing as I didn't like him. We had absolutely nothing to talk about. "You're just full of lively conversation, aren't you?" He asked, smirking.

"Shut it before I hit you," I responded.

"I'd love to stay and taunt you a bit more, but I'm in a hurry," he told me.

"Good. Start walking then," I said, then pushed past him and into the Gym. I really didn't like the boy.

It was just as stiflingly hot as it had been last time, with burning fires and a heat haze that distorted my vision. It didn't seem like a particularly safe place to be. I remembered from last time that Gym battles were fought in the underground floor, so I made my way down there.

It was quite a large room, with a stone floor and a few fires along each wall, all covered in metal grates. There were no lights, but the fires cast enough light for things to be at least somewhat visible.

"How many badges you got?" I heard L.J shout to me from the other side of the room.

"Five," I replied. I was starting to sweat already and I really needed a drink.

"You know the drill then," he said, taking my license from me with one hand.

"I'm using two Pokemon," I told him. Ares would just shrivel up and die at the heat, but the other three would be fine. I knew I would use Skyler, and I was going to either use Naja or River as well. Then again, I figured Skyler could take both of L.J's Pokemon, so it didn't really matter.

"Great," he responded, handing me back my license. "Let's go then." He retreated to the other end of the room, reached into a bag with the number six on it, retrieved two Pokeballs and threw one down.

The thing was huge. It was a dark orange reptile, with two thick, pillar-like legs, a long, muscular tail with a flame on the end and a pair of giant, bat like wings. On the end of its long, muscular neck, it had a large, box-like head, from which two horns protruded, and a pair of strong jaws. The Charizard's two short, skinny arms looked out of place on its gargantuan body.

I grinned to myself. Dragon versus dragon.

"Dragonbreath!" I shouted to Skyler as soon as he was out of his pokeball.

"Flamethrower!" L.J countered.

Skyler's stream of blue-green fire collided with the Charizard's jet of regular fire and sent fire flying everywhere. I turned my head away and shielded my face with one arm, which was a mistake. For a brief few seconds, I couldn't see what was happening, which gave L.J - who had fearlessly stared straight into the fire - an advantage.

"Wing attack!" I heard the Charizard take to the air and heard its wings beat a few times. I then heard the sound of an impact and Skyler let out a grunt of pain but didn't let it affect him.

"Hydro pump!" I yelled. Through the heat haze and the fire, I hadn't managed to locate the two warring dragons yet, so I didn't realize that Skyler was far too close for the attack to work. He shot the jet of water from his mouth, but it sailed harmlessly past the Charizard's head.

"Slash!" I managed to locate them just in time to see the Charizard raking its claws along Skyler's face with its tiny little arms.

"Zen headbutt!" Skyler's head gave off a strange, pink glow and started sending pink sparks flying everywhere. He slammed his head forward and it collided with the Charizard's own box-like head. It staggered backwards but kept itself on its feet.

"Dragon claw!" The Charizard's claws started to glow bright green, and it raked them across Skyler's chest. Not good. I couldn't think of any effective way to retaliate, so Skyler took it upon himself to choose the attack. His fangs started crackling with electricity and he sunk them into the Charizard's shoulder. I was too busy being relieved to wonder when he had learned thunder fang.

"Retreat!" L.J called to his injured dragon. It took to the air and flew to the other side of the room, away from Skyler's jaws. This, however, put Skyler at an advantage.

"Hydro pump!" Skyler shot the pressurized jet of water at the Charizard, but it missed by mere inches. I was in the middle of thinking up an alternative tactic when he swept the jet of water to one side and it collided with the Charizard. It was unconscious before it even hit the ground.

His next Pokemon was even more worrying. It was a gargantuan creature, with a reptilian appearance. It looked like a dinosaur made of rock, with equal amounts fat and muscle evident underneath its plated skin. It had a long, muscular tail and a cream colored horn on its face. Despite Skyler's type advantage with hydro pump, the Rhydon still looked terrifying.

L.J was also strategic about releasing the Rhydon. Instead of dropping the ball so that his Pokemon was released near him like usual, he hurled the ball at Skyler. It landed in front of him, so the Rhydon was within striking distance immediately.

"Ice fang!" Skyler went down about as quickly as the Charizard had before him.

I wasn't comfortable with the position I was in. Naja and Ares wouldn't be able to make a dent in the thing's defense, so my only option was to use River, who had a double type advantage. However, she was still my weakest Pokemon, and not by a little bit. In fact, this was her first real battle.

I decided to use L.J's previous tactic and threw River's pokeball as far as I could, releasing her quite a distance from the Rhydon. This meant that she could snipe at it with her long range water attacks while the stone beast could do little more than stumble towards her.

"Water pulse!" That was one of the moves in River's new arsenal of weapons. As well as inflicting some decent damage, it also had a chance of confusing the opponent, making it exceedingly useful, especially against the Rhydon, who had a double weakness to water attacks.

She opened her mouth and spewed forth a ball of pulsating water. It crashed into the Rhydon's side with an almost unreal force and sent it to the ground. It didn't stay down, however, and pushed itself back onto its feet before continuing to stagger towards River in its awkward gait.

"Rock blast!" The Rhydon spat three balls of rock at high speed towards River, but she was far too nimble for the beast's attack and simply danced over and around them. I hadn't realized how good she had gotten.

"Water pulse!" I repeated. River launched another pulsating ball of water at the gargantuan creature.

"Dig!" The Rhydon crouched down low to the ground and started actually burrowing through the stone floor, but it wasn't even nearly quick enough to dodge the water pulse attack. The ball of water collided with the thing's head but it just kept digging.

I started to get concerned. I wasn't stupid, I knew that River was physically quite frail and wouldn't be able to take much in the way of physical attacks. If I had picked Naja instead, I could just have told him to listen out for the sounds of burrowing - in fact, he would have the sense to do that without me saying so. River, however, had no idea what was happening or what to do, and didn't understand enough English for me to explain it. Brilliant.

"Acid armor!" She understood that command, which should be enough to protect her. She started oozing purple liquid from her skin, which then solidified and formed several large chunks of crystal, which I knew could protect her from a great deal of damage.

The Rhydon remained hidden for another minute or so before it burst out of the ground beside River and threw one massive forearm across at her. It his one of the crystals formed by her acid armor, shattered it and sent her flying into the nearest wall. She was still conscious, although weak, which I figured would be enough to win.

"Rock blast!" River was too injured from the Rhydon's previous attack to dance over the projectiles like she had earlier, but they missed her through sheer luck anyway.

"Haze!" River opened her mouth and started breathing fog all over the room, which - especially when combined with the heat haze - made vision impossible.

River, however, didn't need vision. Her hearing and sense of smell were more than enough to secure her victory. The Rhydon, on the other hand, had no such heightened senses and was just as blind as L.J or I.

I heard the sound of spraying water, but I didn't hear the sound of said water colliding with the Rhydon. Instead, I vaguely saw a beam of red, and the monster disappeared.

"I forfeit!" I heard L.J call out across the room. I heard the sounds of more Pokemon being released, then the mist simply vanished. I looked over to see a Golduck sucking the mist in, and a Sandslash filling in the hole the the Rhydon had made with dig.

"Why?" I asked him, perplexed.

"What was the point in leaving him out? He'd just get beaten into the ground with water attacks anyway. I returned him to avoid him taking a beating," he explained, walking over to me.

"Ah." I took out River's Pokeball and returned her. I figured she'd be exhausted.

"Here's your stuff and that," he told me, handing me a disc. I read the small print and found that it contained flamethrower. Useful. The badge was dark grey, in the shape of a spiral shell. I recognized it as a Magcargo shell. Also, I got a large wad of bills as prize money, as usual.

I handed over my license without needing to be told. He signed it, he handed it back, and I left.

I walked into the cool afternoon, enjoying the cold after coming out of that oven of a Gym. Just as I started walking, I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, someone standing in an alleyway, not too far from me. I walked down the alley towards them.

It was a girl, with a long-ish, blonde pixie cut and a nasty smirk on her face. She was wearing a tight fitting, grey hoodie and a pair of black skinny jeans. She was also leaning against the wall, looking down at her phone and typing, so she didn't notice me approaching.

As I got closer, I knew I hadn't been mistaken, it was a face that I would have recognized anywhere. It was a face that I had committed to memory.

I didn't bother with mouthing off, instead, I punched her right in the jaw. Normally, I wouldn't hit a girl, but this girl was an exception. She cried out in pain, but instead of trying to run away or call for help like most teenage girls would do, she hit me right back. She launched a punch into my jaw in retaliation, which nearly sent me to the ground. Jesus Christ, she was strong.

I grabbed her by the collar, swung her round and slammed her against the wall behind me. She hit her head on the brick wall but still didn't give up. She rocketed her head forward, aiming for my face. I only managed to avoid a broken nose because I turned my head to the side at the last second. Her headbutt still gave me a massive bruise on my cheek, but that's always preferable to actually breaking something.

Hitting a girl would usually make me feel bad, but this girl fought like a man. I was too focused on not letting her break anything.

She brought a knee into my ribs, so I buried a fist in her stomach.

She jabbed me in the face, so I threw a haymaker that made her see stars.

She kicked at my knee, so I punched at her throat. That was what won it for me.

She slumped towards the ground, but I grabbed her by the collar and held her up against the wall. Something dropped from her sleeve and into her hand. I recognized it as a pokeball. I wasn't falling for that again. Before she could do anything with it, I slapped it out of her hand. It landed half way down the alley, burst open and released an Abra, which teleported away instantly.

That was how she had escaped with my old Larvitar, Wreck.


	48. Renegades

Shedding Skins

Chapter Forty Eight

Renegades

* * *

"I'm not scared of you," she chuckled, as soon as she could breathe right again. I knew she was telling the truth.

"You should be," I warned her, pushing her a little further up the wall. I also knew that she didn't know what kind of person she was dealing with. I was no longer the innocent, somewhat short tempered thirteen year old I had been when I started training. No, the better part of a year had changed me into someone dark and dangerous.

"Who are you anyway?" She asked. "I piss off too many people in my line of work to keep track of."

"You stole a Larvitar from me," I growled. "Where is it?"

"I don't have it," she smirked.

"Where!" I demanded.

"The little fucker broke three of my fingers and escaped," she responded. "Trying to get back to you, in all likelihood."

It had been over half a year since he'd been stolen. I hadn't found even the slightest trace of him since then.

I wasn't sure what to do. I considered continuing my assault on her, simply out of rage, but that wouldn't accomplish anything, so I decided not to.

"I can give you compensation if you want. Money, or another rare Pokemon," she informed me. "That is if you don't kill me."

"I don't want your fucking compensation," I growled, letting go of her collar and turning my back on her.

"Suit yourself," she shrugged. "Anyway, now that you've decided you're not going to kill me, I'm going to leave."

I was about to stop her, but a voice came through a megaphone and I stopped myself.

"Connie Quinn!" I heard sirens as well. "This is the police!" I had figured that out already.

"Fuck!" She hissed from next to me.

"You're not going anywhere," I told her.

"What?"

"You're going to jail for what you did." I knew I was being spiteful. So what?

"You'd get arrested for assault," she countered.

"I don't even want to know what you did," I replied. "Theft, probably assault, maybe murder?"

"I'm an inconvenience to trainers. They'd let me off easy. You're a trainer. They'd do everything possible to put you in jail," she reminded me.

I had nothing to say to that, so balled my fists up in anger instead.

"We're in this together. I'm a wanted criminal, and I could also sell you out to Hawkes." My blood ran cold. "Yeah, I know who you are, and if I gave him an easy way to get you, he would take it." how did she know about me and my history with Hawkes' guys? I decided that I really didn't want to fuck with her. I had underestimated her, and she had underestimated me.

There's no one I wanted to work with less, and although I didn't want to admit it, she was right. I could give her to the police, she could give me to Hawkes.

"Fine."

"Do you have any fliers?" She asked.

"Two, but they'd be no use. My Salamence is too slow and my Yanmega can't carry both of us," I replied.

"Do you have any teleporters?"

"If I did, don't you think I would have used them already?" An idea occurred to me just then. I closed my eyes and thought a name inside my head, concentrating on nothing else for a few seconds.

_"Yes?"_

"I need your help," I told Cerletti.

"What the fuck?" The thief - who's name was apparently Connie - asked.

"Released Pokemon," I explained.

_"You wish to escape?"_

"Yeah," I replied. "And take her as well," I added. gesturing to Connie.

"Come out now, or we'll come and get you!" The police again.

"I don't think you will!" Connie called to them, just before the three of us blinked out of existence.

* * *

"The fuck are we supposed to do now?" I asked Connie. "I figure you've been in this situation before, what now?"

"We hide out here for a bit, lay low when we get back to civilization," she answered with a yawn.

Currently, we were out in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't even a route, it was a forest so isolated that humans hadn't named it yet. On the downside, it was cold, wet, miserable and the skinny trees offered little to no cover from the constantly pounding rain. On the upside, however, the forest housed a wealth of Pokemon species for my team to periodically beat the shit out of.

We managed to find a small cave that kept the rain out, Skyler lit fires to keep us warm and we subsided on the food that my team brought back from hunts.

As for Cerletti, things were the same as they had been before, which meant rather pleasant small talk as we watched the rest of my team train.

She told me that since she'd left, she had just wandered, and her ability to teleport meant that she could visit wherever she liked. She had been to every continent, seen all kinds of Pokemon and cultures around the world, visited historical sites, and avoided trainers. Seeing as she was a Pokemon, she had to watch from a distance, as humans would try to capture her.

It was nice having her back, even though it was only temporary - I couldn't read minds, but her body language told me that she still had no desire to be a trained Pokemon. She seemed to enjoy being free.

Even had she wanted to be a trained Pokemon again, she was considerably weaker than the other members of my team, with the exception of River, who she was on par with.

Naja and Ares were right at home in the marshy forest. Skyler didn't care one way or another - he could trample his was over basically any form of terrain. River detested the terrain. Cerletti liked it about as much as I did. Strangely, Connie loved it. The constant insects, mud, rain and cold didn't bother her. She was definitely the toughest, manliest girl I had ever met.

Connie was an absolute bastard, and had done more than a few things that went beyond bad, much like myself. Despite this, we were similar in nature and I found myself getting along with her, even though I tried my hardest to hate her for stealing Wreck.

Despite my best efforts, we became friends over the course of the week that we spent out in the forest together.

I found out more about her line of work. She was an illegal Pokemon hunter. She dealt in strong, rare and desirable Pokemon, obtaining them either by buying, stealing or trading and then selling them off to make a profit. It was a dangerous job, seeing as how deals could go badly, victims of her theft could seek revenge, the police could happen to find her and a hundred other reasons, so she had found ways to protect herself.

First of all, there was her Abra. That was her go to solution when faced with trouble - although it had disappeared after our skirmish in the alley. She also kept a Hippowdon on her at all times for protection, which was her only permanent Pokemon. Other than that, she also carried Pokemon for selling. At the time, she also kept an Absol, a Drapion, a Cyndaquil, a Pichu, a Cranidos and a Beldum. That brought her total up to seven Pokemon, meaning she carried an illegally large team.

As side jobs, she also dealt in other things, such as rare artifacts and information. I found that that's how she knew of my history with Hawkes' guys.

"You really think that a single Hippowdon could protect you from a skilled trainer?" I asked her one day, incredulous. She thought that having a single, powerful Pokemon would be enough to protect her from anything she couldn't escape from.

"Yeah. I've had this guy for a long, long time," she replied, patting said Hippowdon's head. It was a gigantic creature, six feet tall at the shoulder and outweighing even Skyler. It's jaws could open wide enough for me actually walk into. "Also, I have the others that I carry," she added.

"So you think you could defend yourself if a skilled trainer attacked you?" I was smirking in amusement now. She overestimated herself.

"I have Don here, and a Drapion at the moment, so yeah," she answered, serious.

"Prove it," I challenged her, dropping all four of my pokeballs at the same time.

"That's four on two. That's not fair," she argued.

"In a real life situation, a trainer would use their full team," I countered. "Anyway, I thought you were confident?"

"I am," she responded. She dropped another pokeball and released a four foot tall scorpion.

"Wait a second, I want to try something," I said, more to myself than to Connie. "Naja, Ares, River, you hang back," I said, smirking. "Skyler, you take them on."

"Are you serious?" She laughed. "You think your dragon can take on both of these?"

"Maybe, but if not, the other three could do it easy anyway," I answered.

"Not my fault if your dragon gets his ass handed to him," she responded. "Get him!"

"That's you command? Get him? Really?" I called over to her as her Pokemon charged at Skyler. "In the air!" I countered.

The two charged awkwardly at my dragon, who simply took to the air and flew over them. They turned around and started at the now airborne Skyler, completely at a loss for what to do, seeing as Connie wasn't giving commands. They weren't used to battling, and neither was Connie.

"Ember, arms!" I commanded, pointing at the Drapion. Skyler breathed a cloud of fire onto the thing's left claw and badly burned it. The unfortunate Scorpion started running, flailing and screaming. It really wasn't used to battling.

"Dammit!" Connie screamed, returning it. "You, get it! Now!" That command was directed at her Hippowdon - Don.

It launched a swirling vortex of sand at Skyler - I identified it as sand tomb - but he simply blew the sand away with a flap of his wings.

"Hydro pump," I said almost lazily. He launched the familiar jet of water from his mouth, which hit the unfortunate hippo with the force of a freight train, actually succeeding in knocking the massive creature over. I knew it was finished.

"What the hell?" Connie growled. Somebody was a sore loser.

"At least now you know you're screwed if a trainer gets a hold of you," I reminded her. She simply glared at me in return.

I had honestly not expected it to be nearly so easy. I had expected Connie to at least know a few of their moves, or at least give out something a little more useful than "Get him". They were strong Pokemon, sure, but without any clear aims, they were no use.

"I have to sell that Drapion!" She complained. "You know, people aren't nearly so willing to buy after a Salamence has practically burned the thing's whole fucking arm off!"

* * *

I became friends with Connie. I hated to admit it, but we were similar in personality and I got on well with her for the most part, which was why I was actually disappointed when she left. A week after we escaped to the wilderness, she was gone, although she did leave a note and a small package.

_Sorry, but I've left. Feel free to call me whenever you like, but I don't think I'll actually see you again for a while._ _Also, I feel bad for stealing your Larvitar now. Although it doesn't make up for stealing it in the first place, I've left a gift for you. So, goodbye for now._

I opened the package to find a black, plastic, square box. I opened the lid to find a pokeball.

"Guys!" I called out into the forest. Seconds later, Ares was hovering by my head. Skyler took to the sky and dropped down in front of me a minute later. River gracefully trotted over soon after that. Naja appeared without me even noticing. Cerletti had already left the previous day.

I dropped the ball, and my newest team member burst out. It was a small, shrew-like creature that walked on its hind legs. It was primarily cream colored, but its back and the top of its head were blue, although it also had four red spots on its back. As I was looking at it, it shut its eyes tight and flames erupted from its back.

I nearly died of happiness. Connie had just decided to give me a Cyndaquil.

I remembered the days when I had dreamed of getting one as my starter Pokemon - although that dream had been shattered with the arrival of my Chikorita - and smirked to myself. Three quarters of a year later, and I had finally gotten myself one.

I took a moment to feel bad about my Chikorita, though, as I did whenever memory of it entered my mind. The same applied to the Cacnea, although I seemed to remember that much less often.

I then noticed that Connie's note had something written on the back of it.

_Sorry, but the idiot I stole this from had already given it a name. It's a she and she's called - for some unfathomable reason - Celsius. She's already learned it, so you can't change it. Sorry, but that is not my fault._

Ugh. Celsius. I was not particularly fond of the name.

"Uh...Cel?" It turned around. Yes. I may not be able to change the name, but what's wrong with shortening it?

Training yet another Pokemon would be hard work, seeing as River and even Naja weren't up to speed yet, but there wasn't any reason it couldn't be fun as well.

I had only two more badges to get, and I had a feeling that they wouldn't be easy. L.J had been easier than the others because, being new, he was inexperienced as a leader, but Jan and Vernon wouldn't be.

I was especially nervous about my battle with the Mahogany Gym Leader. Hank Vernon. The man had a bad reputation.

"Guys, you can go again," I called to them, gesturing to the rest of the forest. They got the idea and dispersed in order to go and abuse the local inhabitants, leaving only Cel left.

"Uh...Ember?" She blew a tiny, pathetic cloud of fire from her mouth. It was almost useless, but at least I had a starting point.


	49. Psychology

Shedding Skins

Chapter Forty Nine

Psychology

* * *

After having Skyler fly me back to civilization, I realized that River was not improving nearly quick enough, Naja was still weaker than he should be, and Cel was obviously hopelessly weak. Skyler and Ares were the only truly powerful members of my team, which spurred me on to train, and when I say I trained, this time I mean I really trained.

I decided on route forty four, which was east of Mahogany and was really just a massive stretch of land with two rather sizable ponds in the middle, two forests next to those and Ice Path to the east. For the most part, it was sunny, warm, generally pleasant and housed a number of strong Pokemon for my team to abuse. Perfect training spot.

I camped out in the route and returned to civilization rarely, but I was happy, even with my lack of material possessions. All I needed was food - in the form of my Pokemon's kills - and water for washing - which came in the form of the two large ponds.

It had been exactly two months since my escape with Connie that something interesting happened. It seemed like longer, but about sixty days was the total length of it.

"Flame wheel!" By this time, Cel had evolved into a Quilava, and looked like she would evolve into a Typhlosion reasonably soon.

My Quilava was presently decimating an unfortunate Lickitung. It was a fat but muscular creature, more formidable than their appearance would have you believe. In fact, it had withstood several attacks already. She curled into a flaming ball of fire and launched herself at the unfortunate creature. She collided with it and knocked it to the floor with a large burn across its chest. It wouldn't be moving again any time soon.

"Nice," I commended Cel. She understood that I was praising her. She was remarkably intelligent, though not as intelligent as Naja - because, let's face it, what Pokemon, or human for that matter, is?

I sent her off to find another opponent, and then decided to check my phone. Being out in the wilderness, there wasn't exactly anywhere to charge it, so I kept it turned off unless I needed to call someone. I hadn't used it at all since I started my spell of training, so I found that I had missed calls. A lot of them, from everyone.

The phone started ringing and I found that Raynor was calling me.

"Oh, hey," I greeted him.

"Where the hell have you been?" His voice came through the phone. "No one's heard from you in months."

"Just training really," I replied, not seeing what the problem was.

"We've been trying to get in touch with you for two months!" Well, that couldn't be good.

"What's the problem?" I asked.

"Olivine hospital, now," he ordered me before hanging up. Brilliant.

"Guys!" I shouted. They were back with me in a few minutes. I returned all of them apart from Skyler, then jumped on said dragon's back. I had to pass over two cities on the way. It would be a long flight.

* * *

"What's happened?" I asked, striding into the ward. Raynor, Scarlett, Forrest and Marnie were all there, standing around the hospital bed. I wondered where Tyson was for a brief moment, then realized that he was the one in the hospital bed. He was shirtless and I could clearly see the bandages wrapped around his abdomen.

"He got stabbed," Forrest told me, sounding calmer than I would have expected.

"Will he be alright?" I was starting to get hysterical, but I was covering it up remarkably well.

"We don't know," Marnie admitted, looking like she was about to burst into tears.

"He'll live, but it might cause irreparable damage," Raynor explained. "Hopefully it won't, but we don't know."

"How? How, where were his team?" I demanded. After seeing how Hunter was with him, I was highly doubtful that anyone who attacked Tyson would be alive for much longer afterwards.

"They had been through a tough few battles and they were getting their injuries treated," Scarlett replied.

"Yeah, and he decided to take a wander through Olivine," Raynor continued. "He saw someone being attacked down an alleyway, so he tried to help them. He took out three or four guys, then got stabbed. They left him to die, but he managed to phone an ambulance for himself," he finished.

"When did this happen?" I asked.

"Last night," Forrest answered. "We were trying to contact you before that because hate crimes against trainers are getting worse," he went on. Well, I wouldn't have known, seeing as I had been out in the wilderness.

"Yeah, and Hawkes is gathering numbers," Scarlett added.

"How do you know this?" There were a lot of questions being answered, but these answers seemed to be coming from nowhere.

"I work alongside Hawkes. I'm a double agent, basically," she told me.

"So you find out what his organization has planned?"

"Organization is probably the wrong word - they're just a particularly big gang, really - but yeah, I find out what I can."

I didn't even know what to say to that, and neither did anyone else, so we just sat there in silence for a while. Eventually, Raynor broke the silence.

"This has to stop," he simply said.

"We've established that," Marnie commented.

"Do you mean...?" Scarlett trailed off.

"Yeah, that's what I mean," Raynor answered.

"No! You can't!" Scarlett was talking - screaming, really - again. Forrest, Marnie and I had no idea what they were talking about, so we stayed quiet.

"Yes, I can," Raynor argued, a tone of resignation in his voice.

"But..." Scarlett trailed off again. "There's no point!" She screamed after a long pause.

"There's a chance it won't happen," Raynor countered.

"But it will! You know what will happen to you!" By this point, Scarlett was in tears.

"She's right, you know," a smooth, posh voice said. I looked over to the doorway to see that politician standing there in an expensive suit. What was his name again? Alexander Diamond, that was it. "It's pointless and I simply won't allow you to do it."

"You can't stop me," Raynor growled.

"He's talking sense for once, please listen to him!" Scarlett pleaded.

"I'm out of here," Raynor almost whispered. He got up and went to leave, but the politician blocked the door.

"No, you're not," he said to Raynor.

I had never seen Raynor attack someone, which is why the sheer speed and ferocity behind it surprised me.

He grabbed Alexander's collar and slammed his back into the wall to his left.

"You're not in a meeting room with other politicians, Alex, you're in a hospital ward full of teenagers with superpowered pets," Raynor growled, face inches from the politician's. "I wouldn't piss anyone off if I were you."

He let go of him and stormed out, leaving all of us - especially Alexander - bewildered.

"Linus..." I heard Forrest say. I looked over to him to see what he wanted.

"What?" I said, after a few seconds of silence. He opened his mouth like he was about to say something and looked like he was physically struggling to form words.

"Nothing..." He eventually said, sounding defeated.

I felt like I had missed something. Several things, in fact.

"The fuck's going on here?" Marnie asked, looking just as confused as I felt. Forrest looked preoccupied with something else, and was presently staring into space.

"You don't want to know," Scarlett told us, dismissing us with a wave of her hand.

"I do," I said.

"You wouldn't believe her if she told you," Alexander - or Alex, whatever he wanted to be called - answered for her.

I was about to insist that I would, but the two swept out of the room before I could say anything, leaving just the three of us with Tyson.

* * *

Marnie and Forrest left the hospital ward after having a small disagreement about something stupid. I figured they were away to argue in peace. I was the only one who stayed with Tyson.

I had been waiting there for four hours, just sitting doing nothing. Well, I was actually trying to make sense of the whole incident earlier, but it's not like I was getting anywhere.

"You awake?" I asked him as soon as I saw him stir.

"...Oh, bastard..." He groaned. Charming.

"You got stabbed," I informed him.

"No shit...Fuck..." The bad language was excusable. After all, he'd just had a knife in him.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Considering I just had six inches of steel in me...I guess I'm doing alright..." He replied. "What happened while I was out?"

"Raynor said he had to do something, but only Scarlett knew what he was talking about, then Scarlett freaked out," I explained. "Alexander Diamond was in earlier as well," I added as an afterthought.

"Dammit!" He shouted quite suddenly, then tried to sit up. He couldn't make it more than a few inches before he had to lie back down again, though, face screwed up in pain. "Fucking hell..." He panted.

"What's going on?" I demanded. "No one's telling me or Marnie anything! Even Forrest knows something, but he won't tell us!" I shouted, remembering the strange way he had acted earlier.

"This is too big for you to deal with," he told me quietly.

"But not for Forrest?" I practically growled.

"That's...It's complicated." He sounded short on patience.

"Clearly," I shot back.

"Listen, you need to stop Raynor from doing this," Tyson practically begged me. Whatever it was that Raynor was intending to do, it seemed bad, but I wanted answers.

"No."

"What?"

"Not until you tell me what's going on," I explained.

"I...I can't," Tyson admitted.

"What the hell?" I exclaimed. "I get the feeling that this involves me, but I'm not allowed to know what's happening?"

"It's confusing, but we know what we're doing," Tyson argued.

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" I demanded.

"Just...I give up..." He sighed, defeated.

I didn't even reply to that, I just stormed out of the hospital. It was early evening and freezing outside. I didn't really care, my mind was preoccupied with other things.

I was so preoccupied that I almost missed the shouting as I walked to my newly booked room at the Pokemon Center. I was three doors away from my room when I stopped to listen.

"No, don't turn this back on me!"

"But -"

"This was your fucking fault! Yours!" I recognized the voices. The accuser was Forrest and the accused was Marnie.

"I'm sorry!" Marnie pleaded.

"What did I actually do?" Forrest sounded broken, defeated. It wasn't what I was used to him sounding like.

"Nothing! I...I didn't mean to do it..."

"Really? Is it that hard to only be with me?" This time he sounded angry. Angrier than ever before.

"I said I'm sorry..." Marnie was sounding broken and defeated now.

"Yeah?" Forrest growled, so I could barely hear him. "Well it's too little, too late."

He stormed out of the room and near enough walked into me.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked him, putting a hand on his shoulder. Stupid question, but what else was I actually supposed to say?

He shook my hand off him and before I could say anything else, his Xatu was out and they were gone.

I walked into the room to find Marnie sitting on the edge of the bed in tears. I sat down next to her, wanting to comfort her, but feeling too awkward to actually do anything.

"Forrest's better than us, isn't he?" Marnie asked, quite suddenly, after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah, he is," I replied, actually understanding what she was talking about. With Marnie and I - and most other trainers it seemed - there weren't really any boundaries. We would maim, cripple or kill people without much thought - as both of us had done. Forrest was different. It showed, for example, when a moral question came up. Everyone else would pick what was easy or what was beneficial to them, Forrest would always pick what was right. He was decent, really.

I put my arm around her shoulders and held her.

"Don't try and make me feel better. I don't really deserve it," she said through her tears.

"Whatever you did, it can't have been that bad," I reassured her.

"I was seeing this other guy behind his back." Well then. That changed things. "I'm not stupid, I know I didn't treat him too well," she confided. I had no idea what she was talking about - their relationship had seemed perfectly fine to me.

"You might be able to fix things when he cools down," I told her, not actually believing a word of it.

"If he wants to fix things, then he's an idiot because he deserves someone better," she replied. "That being said, I'd still get back with him anyway, because It would suit me better and I'm that kind of person."

I honestly didn't know what to say to that. Thankfully, I didn't have to say anything, because Alexander walked in.

"You two might want to see this," he informed us in that slick voice before walking out again._  
_

Marnie and I shared a look, she dried her eyes and we followed him. We saw him walking into a room a few doors down, and followed him in.

Even though the lights were off, the room was visible enough for me to see that the place had been completely trashed. Everything that could be smashed had been, including the light bulb that hung from the ceiling. That would explain the darkness.

"Dammit! Raynor!" I recognized that voice. It was Scarlett.

Raynor was currently sitting in the corner, curled up into the fetal position. He was shaking and muttering things to himself. Although I couldn't make out the actual words, I was sure it was gibberish. I also noticed that his knuckles were bleeding heavily.

"He's gone," Alexander sighed.

"Shut up!" Scarlett screeched, then dived at him and started raking her nails across his face.

"Bitch!" He cursed, protecting his now bleeding face with his hands. I remember holding Scarlett back - which was quite a feat, considering she was older, bigger and stronger than me.

"Call an ambulance," the politician ordered me after Scarlett had calmed down. I didn't question him - he knew what was happening and he knew what he was doing.

"Will he be okay?" Marnie asked, fearing the answer.

"Does he look like he'll be okay?" He replied wearily.


	50. The Oncoming Storm

Shedding Skins

Chapter Fifty

The Oncoming Storm

* * *

"Psychic induced insanity," the lawyer stated, reading from a sheet of paper, like it was a normal, somewhat uninteresting thing to say. Raynor's loss of sanity didn't seem to bother the man at all.

"Explain exactly what you mean by that," Tyson demanded. He was doing remarkably well for someone who had been stabbed and subsequently lost their best friend to insanity.

"He tried to psychically bombard his brain with far too much information," the lawyer said through a yawn. "His mind couldn't take it and basically just collapsed."

"Any chance of recovery?" Scarlett asked quietly.

"Technically, yes, but don't hold your breath," he replied casually.

"What's this all about? Why did you call us here?" Tyson asked, patience wearing thin.

"He had these prepared in case anything happened to him," the lawyer answered almost lazily. He reached into a briefcase and retrieved six envelopes. One for each of us: Tyson, Scarlett, Marnie, Forrest, Alexander and myself. He came around and handed each of us one of the envelopes. "He asked that you not show these to anyone else."

I ungraciously tore the envelope open and retrieved a folded letter. I opened that up and began to read.

_Linus_

_I want you to know that was I did was a last resort. The situation's getting worse and worse, and something needs to be done. I've failed, but there are others, and you're one of them, so there's still hope._

_There's not much I can do, but what I can do is give you advice. I just want to clarify a few things first._

_Forrest is on your side. No matter how true the opposite seems, he's your friend and the single most trustworthy person in your life._

_Tyson is doing what is right. I can't tell you any more than that, but all I'll say is that the ends justify the means._

_Regardless of what's happened to me, I'll be looking out for you. I know that doesn't make much sense just now, but I can't explain any further._

_But now for the main parts of this letter._

_Hawkes is scared of you. This is a good and a bad thing. Bad because he'll want to get rid of what he's scared of, good because he'll also want to avoid what he's scared of. I think you can take advantage of this, because you're not like Forrest, or any of your other friends - apart from maybe Marnie. You're like me: you're smart and determined, but angry and frustrated, somewhat reckless with a little bit of crazy thrown in. That's a recipe for someone you just don't want to fuck with. If you learn how to really take care of yourself - and I think you may have already - then Hawkes is going to have a hard time taking you out. But please, do not get cocky, because that's a weakness - one of my greatest ones actually._

_Hawkes is the main issue at the moment, but the government will step in again, and when they do, all Hell will break loose. Similar principles will apply when they appear: that is, they'll want to get rid of you, but want to avoid you at the same time._

_You know, it scares me how similar you are to me. You would notice it if we had known each other better._

_You're more important to everything than you can possibly know. I can't really say why, but keep that in mind anyway._

_So, with that cryptic message, goodbye. It's been frustrating and infuriating knowing you, but I'm sorry to say farewell regardless._

_Raynor Gunnan._

I stood up and stormed out into the corridor, ignoring the protests of Forrest and Marnie.

What was so important about me? Why was everyone scared of me? I wasn't stupid, I was aware that I was a reasonably powerful trainer, but people seemed more scared of me than they were of Tyson, Scarlett, or even Raynor. Why did I suddenly have everyone shaking in their boots?

"Just wait up!" Forrest called after me. I kept walking, so he ran to catch up with me. "If you would -" He started but I cut him off.

"You!" I accused him. "You know something and you're not telling me!" He looked down at the ground at this, ashamed.

"Listen, I..." He trailed off. He opened his mouth and physically struggled to form the words. He was visibly having trouble talking, but looked like there was something he desperately wanted to say. It was like he was unable to say the words. Instead, he turned around and punched the nearest wall, making a considerably sized crack. I wondered how he had gotten so strong.

I was about to say something to Forrest when I remembered Raynor's warning. I managed to hold my tongue.

He just released his Xatu - Pinel, if I remembered correctly - and teleported away.

I'd had enough. I power walked out of the building and into the pouring rain in nothing but jeans and a t-shirt. The cold and rain, however, were the last things on my mind.

"Linus!" I heard a voice shout from an alleyway to my left. I turned and caught sight of someone standing in the shadows, but I thought I still recognized them, so I jogged over to meet them.

"Hey Connie," I greeted her when I reached the thief. She looked different. She had still had the blonde pixie cut, checked shirt and skinny jeans, but her face was different. She had an expression that just made her seem sort of defeated. Broken, even.

"Sorry," she said, pulling out a handgun and aiming it at me. "Hawkes wants you," she informed me in an emotionless sort of way.

"And you've sold me out?" I already knew the answer to my question. "How much is he paying you?"

"He's not paying me a thing. He has my sister, and he'll release her if I give him you," she replied. In all honesty, I couldn't blame her.

"I get that your sister's life means more than mine, but I feel differently," I commented, stalling for time. I could live with the fact that Hawkes would kill her sister, as long as it meant I lived.

"Look -" She started, but she didn't get to finish her statement. I grabbed her wrist and pushed her arm away from me, just as she fired off a shot. I didn't see where it went.

I remembered the last time I had fought Connie. Well, the last two times actually. I knew that she wasn't the average girl. She was strong, she was fast, she was nasty and she could really fight. I wasn't going to go easy on her because she was a girl, I wanted to stay alive. After all, I did enjoy living. In fact, if I'd had a list of things I wanted to do in life, die would have been below everything else. I would have rather committed mass genocide than die, if I'm being perfectly honest.

I grabbed her collar with my free hand and shoved her up against the wall. I pushed her gun arm up against the wall as well and pinned it there. Despite her fighting prowess, I was still bigger and stronger.

I tried to headbutt her in the face, but she lowered her head and my forehead collided with the top of her skull, hurting the both of us.

She made a grab for my testicles but only managed to get a handful of thigh while I tried to gouge her eye but missed. I was forced to retreat when she started biting at my fingers. This had transcended the barrier between combat and a real fight.

During this, I forgot about the gun and let my guard down slightly. She wasn't able to break out of my grip, but she managed to swing the gun forward and hit me in the face with it. I knew I would have a bruise the size of a tennis ball the next day.

However, the use of her weapon had reminded me of my own and I reached for the knife at my belt. I made a stab for her stomach but succeeded only in opening up a small gash on her side, due to her struggling against my hold.

It was at this moment that I realized I was willing to inflict a potentially fatal wound without hesitation on someone I considered my friend. I wasn't particularly bothered about this.

"Linus!" I heard someone scream. At the same time, Connie accidentally fired off another shot. I didn't see where the gun was pointing. However, I did glance to my left to see who had shouted my name. I caught sight of Marnie running towards us, and saw her fall when the gun went off.

Fortunately, this seemed to distract Connie long enough for me to attack her. I stabbed my knife into her right shoulder. This elicited a scream from her, and she dropped her pistol. I kicked it down the alleyway as soon as it hit the ground.

I punched her in the gut, and she would have doubled over, but I grabbed her collar and held her up straight. I then struck her four times in the face with the handle of my knife. Her face was bloody and bruised after it, and she could no longer stand up straight, so I let her go and she just slumped to the ground.

My next priority was Marnie. I returned my knife and ran over to my friend, who was currently face down on the ground. She let out a low groan when I reached her, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me. I had been afraid she would be dead already.

"Come on," I encouraged her, helping her roll over onto her back, so I could see where she had been shot. There was a wound in her thigh that was leaking out an alarming amount of blood. I took out my phone and called an ambulance, then put it back in my pocket.

I sat with her, holding her hand and telling her she would be fine, that the ambulance would be here soon and so on and so forth. After maybe five minutes of this, I felt metal being pressed to the back of my head.

"You're an idiot," Connie informed me, speech slightly distorted from her swollen and bloody lips. I didn't need to be told that the object pressed against my skull was her pistol.

* * *

I walked into the warehouse, hands cuffed behind my back, completely unarmed. Connie - who still had the gun pressed to the back of my head - had both my knife and my pokeballs. I didn't feel safe without either of them.

There was nothing much in the warehouse. Crates took up a small portion of the place, but most of it was just empty racks. Right in the middle, there was a chair, with a table a few meters from it.

"Sit," Connie instructed me. I begrudgingly obeyed and sat down - awkwardly, because of the cuffs. She put my pokeballs on the table - carefully, so that they wouldn't release any of my team members. She placed my knife down next to them as well.

At some point, she had managed to treat the stab wound she had sustained from me. It just looked to me like a lot of bandages. Then again, I hadn't paid all that much attention, seeing as I didn't care.

She returned to her position behind me and pressed the gun to the back of my head again. It was not a feeling I enjoyed.

"Miss Quinn," I heard a deep, raspy voice say. A man that I recognized walked out of from behind one of the stacks of empty racks. "Nice of you to show," he said. I had never met this man, but I recognized him from a picture I had been shown.

He was maybe forty, at least six foot tall and built like a wrestler. He had jet black, greasy hair and was in need of a shave. He wore an old wife beater and black combat pants, both of which were in even more dire need of a wash than he was.

The sick thing was that he was pushing a young girl in front of him, who was both gagged and handcuffed. She looked like a miniature Connie, although a few years younger. Well, she looked like a miniature, young, innocent Connie. In that respect, she couldn't be more the opposite of her sister, whom I assumed had killed at least a few people.

"Lily, come on," Connie encouraged her little sister, beckoning her over with a jerk of her head.

"Don't move," Hawkes ordered. She stayed where she was.

"What the fuck? We had a deal!" Connie screamed.

"I'm not stupid," Hawkes chuckled. "I don't trust you in the slightest, but I figure you'll be more cooperative if i have her," he explained, nodding to Connie's little sister - Lily, apparently.

"I will blow his fucking head off," Connie practically growled at him. Wait, Hawkes wanted me alive? My day had just gotten a whole lot better.

"He's your friend. I don't think you will," Hawkes smirked.

"Try me," Connie smirked back. "I've killed before. It's not something new," she informed him.

"Same," I chipped in. "So killing you two is going to be easy," I added. A worried look crossed Hawkes' face, but he hid it quickly. The same look probably crossed Connie's face, but I wouldn't know, seeing as she had been behind me at the time.

"Shut up," he dismissed me. "Fine, take your sister back just now, but if you try anything smart, I will have her killed." The ex-soldier nodded at Lily when he said this.

The kid ran over to Connie, and would probably have hugged her if she wasn't cuffed.

"Let's go," Connie said to Lily, before releasing an Abra and teleporting away with her little sister.

We were alone, just me and Hawkes.

"I despise you, and my men like you only slightly more," Hawkes told me, walking in slow circles around the chair I was sitting on. I could have stood up, but it's not like I would have been able to do anything if I did.

"Really? But I'm quite a nice guy," I replied. "It's not like I routinely mutilate people. Just your guys," I went on.

"I'd like to see you make a smart comment after I've cut off your fingers," he shot back, a cruel smile spreading over his face.

"But you won't," I replied confidently.

"I've done worse to people," he informed me.

"I know you're willing to do it, that's not the problem," I almost laughed. "But you see - please try not to shit yourself - I have a plan," I finished. He couldn't hide the look of fear that crossed his face.

"You..." He couldn't seem to think of an adequate response.

"At first, you'll be furious. After that, you'll be dead." I was enjoying his fear.

"Men!" He barked. At least a dozen of his men came out of their hiding places around the warehouse - some came out from behind empty racks, some actually climbed out of crates. "You're unarmed, have no Pokemon, there's over a dozen of us, and you think you can win?" He asked, hate, rage and fear contorting his face into an expression I couldn't even describe.

"Absolutely," I smirked.

"Why should I be scared of you? You're defenseless!" He was getting hysterical in front of his followers. Not a good idea.

"Because I am Linus fucking Ferrie, that's why."

"You -" He started, trembling with rage, but I interrupted him.

"Now!" I roared. I didn't really need to do that, I just did it for effect.

Cerletti appeared out of nowhere, right in front of me. She was suddenly at the table. She blinked out of existence while holding my pokeballs. She reappeared without them, then blinked out of existence again with my knife. She reappeared in front of me, the knife now absent, placed a hand on my shoulder and we escaped.

We materialized on a hill, and I noted that my team were already all released, their pokeballs lying on the grass, along with my knife. After Cerletti used some form of psychic technique to remove my cuffs, I quickly picked my belongings up.

"Circle," I commanded. The seven of us all stood there, hands - or, in some cases, paws, tails or wings - joined. "Cerletti, translate, will you?"

_"Okay," _her voice rang out in my mind.

"Make sure you don't hurt each other, or me. Feel free to kill. Feel free to mutilate, I really don't care. Just stay alive, and wreak havoc, got it?" My team all nodded at me one by one.

"Cerletti, anyone gets injured, get them out of there, okay?" She also nodded. "Go!"

We appeared back in the warehouse, surrounded by confused thugs and a furious Allan Hawkes.

"We're back!" I announced with false cheer. Their confusion and fury rapidly turned into fear and hysteria. I really was their worst nightmare.

At that, all hell broke loose.

River was destroying things with pressurized jets of water. Cel was spewing fire everywhere and setting fire to things. Skyler was doing both.

Meanwhile, Naja and Ares were getting in close to the thugs and ripping them apart.

I decided to join in the madness. I saw a thug maybe ten feet from me and ran at him. He was facing away from me, and I plunged my knife right into the middle of his back, probably - hopefully - piercing his heart. I simply pulled my knife out, let him fall to the ground and walked away.

I looked around at the warehouse. Everything had been broken by the water attacks of Skyler and River, and the remains had been set on fire by Cel and Skyler. There was fire everywhere.

I got worried for Ares until I noticed him ripping out half of a thug's internal organs with his teeth while flitting past. He seemed fine.

Naja had sunk his fangs into a man's face, and then proceeded to rip half the skin off of his face.

River knocked out one of them with a jet of water to the head.

Cel simply set one on fire and watched him slowly die.

Skyler chewed a thug's arm off and watched him roll about helplessly on the ground.

Before I knew it, all of Hawkes' men were incapacitated or dead. I stood in the middle of all the carnage, the flames raging about around me, Naja rising up behind me like some form of serpentine guardian.

I was currently looking at the unconscious form of Hawkes. He didn't look to be injured, so I figured if he woke up, he might be able to get out of the warehouse.

"Break his legs," I ordered Naja, who gladly complied.

Have fun burning, Allan.


	51. Bad Luck Town

Shedding Skins

Chapter Fifty One

Bad Luck Town

* * *

"The destruction of a warehouse in Mahogany has been linked to wanted criminal, Connie Quinn," Marnie read out.

"If I ever see that girl again, I'm breaking her nose," I informed Marnie. She was lying in the hospital bed, reading a newspaper. She had managed to get bandaged up before bleeding to death, but still had to stay in the hospital for a while. She told me the reasons why, but I couldn't remember. I didn't really care either.

"You're lucky the police have got the wrong end of the stick, you could get into some amount of shit for burning down a building," Marnie said absentmindedly, flicking through her paper.

"And killing a dozen people," I added before taking a drink of my coffee. I didn't like coffee - I hated it actually - but I'd had little sleep for obvious reasons, so I suffered the bad taste and drank it anyway.

"Seventeen actually," she corrected me. "The bodies of seventeen members were found at the site, but their leader's body was absent," she read from the newspaper.

I nearly spat my coffee out.

"What?"

"Hawkes. He must have escaped or something," Marnie said absentmindedly. She didn't seem to realize that Hawkes would want my head on a platter for this.

"Ah. Sorry, but I need to go," I told Marnie, excusing myself.

"Already? But then I'll be alone," she complained.

"Sorry, but I can't stay," I replied.

"Forrest didn't even show up," Marnie called to me as I was leaving the ward.

"Well can you really blame him?" I asked her, getting somewhat angry at her.

"I nearly died," Marnie said, ignoring my question.

"If I was in his position, would I fuck show up," I practically growled. "In fact, neither would you," I added nastily. It hurt because she knew it was true.

"Bye then," she said, turning back to her newspaper. I left without replying.

* * *

After a seemingly endless flight on Skyler's back, I arrived at the Mahogany Gym. The home of Hank Vernon, probably the most feared trainer in the country, and not because of his battling skill.

I was well aware that the man could deliberately kill one of my team members and get away with it, but I was positive Skyler and Ares could take his Pokemon, although I wasn't sure about River and Naja. Cel would just get slaughtered.

"Thanks," I said to Skyler, then returned him. Everyone in the immediate vicinity became instantly less terrified.

Without wasting any time, I pushed through the doors and into the Gym. It was not what I expected. The walls were lined with cages and tanks full of Pokemon, the containers piled on top of each other from floor to ceiling.

One of the tanks housed a large insect. It was covered in dull yellow armor plates and possessed two large spikes, one on the end of each arm. It also had a large, curved, cruel looking stinger on its abdomen. It looked at me with its large, round, red eyes and I shuddered. It looked familiar. It looked like a Beedrill, but the armor plating was completely out of place. I had never seen one that looked like that.

In one of the cages, there was a tall, slim dog. It was primarily orange in coloration, with black stripes and long, shaggy, cream fur on its chest. Its long tail was composed of similar hair, as was its mane. This looked either like a freakishly tall Growlithe, or an oddly slim and lean Arcanine. I couldn't tell which.

In a particularly large, reinforced cage in one corner, sat a snake like Pokemon, curled up and sleeping. It looked to be made of rock, but it had patches of steel covering its body. It possessed a long, thin horn on the top of its head, as well as huge, brick like, formidable looking teeth and a massive, low slung heavy jaw that looked capable of immense power. As an extra weapon, its tail ended in a large spike, and it had two spikes at seemingly random places on its back. I couldn't tell if the thing was an Onix or a Steelix.

"So, do these interest you?" I heard someone ask. I stopped looking at the freakish Pokemon in the cages and tanks and instead turned to the Gym Leader, standing right in the middle of the somewhat gloomy room. He looked to be about forty, with sharp, pointed features and brown hair that - although it was clean - needed cut. He wore suit trousers and smart shoes, but - oddly enough - wore a lab jacket as well. Hank Vernon.

"What are they?" I asked. I wouldn't know if these things interested me until I knew what they were.

"This is a phenomenon known as evolutionary diapause," he informed me. "You see, an everstone stops a Pokemon from evolving, you understand that?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, if an everstone is given at just the right time, it can pause evolution half way through, resulting in this," he explained, gesturing to the cages around him. "It can happen in other ways, however. Certain recessive genes can cause it, although it's exceptionally rare. Withdrawing an evolutionary stone at the right time also has the same effect," he went on.

"What's the point of doing it?" I asked. I assumed a fully evolved Pokemon would be stronger than a half evolved Pokemon.

"Well, it lets us understand a lot more about how the evolution process works," Vernon answered. "And sometimes they offer a tactical advantage in battle," he added.

"How? Wouldn't a fully evolved Pokemon be stronger?"

"Stronger, yes. However, they may also be slower, for example," he explained. "Look at this Arcalithe," he said, pointing to the orange dog I had seen earlier. "Stronger than a Growlithe, while also being faster than an Arcanine. Quite a formidable foe," he finished.

"Ah," I said stupidly. I couldn't think of what to say in reply to that.

"Of course it can go wrong," he admitted, gesturing to a tank to my left. In it, was a large, serpentine creature with orange and blue skin. It had tiny, crooked arms and legs, useless little wings and was grossly overweight. As I stared at it, it rolled on the ground in agony. "Horribly wrong."

"What the hell is that?" I asked, disgusted.

"Dragonair into Dragonite. Not pretty," he answered.

"That's just..." I trailed off.

"Anyway, I assume that you're here to attempt to win your seventh badge?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah," I replied, before noticing that something was up. "How do you know I'm battling for my seventh badge?" I demanded.

"Because I know who you are, Linus. You're drawing quite a bit of attention to yourself, but I think you can handle it," he explained. This scared me. I didn't like people knowing things about me.

"Anyway, I'll be using two Pokemon," I told him, trying to change the subject. I didn't feel safe and I wanted to get out of there.

"I know your team. I guessed," he smirked. Oh God. This was not good. Just as I was thinking this, he released his first Pokemon.

It was eight feet tall at the shoulder, with gigantic tusks and thick, brown fur. It had a white and blue mask like pattern on its face, as well as a pig like nose. It's physique was something of a cross between an elephant and a boar, which really just looks like something you don't want to fuck with.

Even worse, Mamoswine is an ice type.

"Are you not using one of your half evolved Pokemon?" I asked him.

"They're not allowed in legal battles," he replied.

"What's the point in having them?"

"There aren't any rules in underground fights," he answered. I should have known he would say something like that.

I dropped a pokeball and released Skyler. None of my other team members could inflict the sheer amount of damage that would be needed to bring down this monster, apart from maybe Cel, but she would simply be trampled to death before that happened.

"Did you know, Mr. Ferrie, that a sudden and extreme chill can stop a dragon's heart?" Vernon grinned.

"Yes," I lied.

"Ice beam," he commanded his pig-mammoth.

"Dragonbreath!" I retaliated immediately. The Mamoswine shot a high pressure stream of frost at Skyler, who launched a jet of blue-green fire at it. The two attacks collided in mid air, the fire melting the frost and continuing on to Skyler's opponent.

It shrieked when the fire hit, but didn't by any means go down. This would be a tough battle.

"Thrash," Vernon instructed next. I knew that would be disastrous if it landed its attack on Skyler, due to those massive tusks. It started galloping towards Skyler in an awkward gait.

"Fly!" I called to Skyler, who lifted himself into the air and evaded the attack. I was reminded of his duel with Connie's Hippowdon and Drapion.

Meanwhile, the Mamoswine simply flailed and thrashed on the ground beneath Skyler, confused.

"Fuck," I heard Vernon hiss.

"Fire fang!" I ordered. Skyler swooped down and sank his burning fangs into the creature's hide. "Melee!" I then shouted. This was a command he had learned while training. Thankfully, he remembered and understood the instruction.

His head started shooting off pink sparks, and he smashed his skull into the Mamoswine's face in a crippling zen headbutt attack. He then pulled his head back and slammed it into its face again, this time using a regular headbutt. He followed this up with a bite to the creature's face.

The command basically meant to use all of the close combat techniques he could without being hit back. I found it to be very effective.

"Hydro pump!" He finished the monster off with a pillar of water that crashed into its face and sent blood flying everywhere. If pigs could break their noses, I was pretty sure this one had done just that.

Vernon scowled at me before dropping his next pokeball and releasing his next Pokemon.

It was a monstrous Pokemon as well, grey-brown in coloration, although it had a band of orange plates around its mid section, as well as similar plates on its shoulders, head and various other places. It was huge, bipedal and bulky, with tough, rocky skin and a club like tail. It had pointed extensions on its elbows, as well as holes in its palms which I knew were capable of firing rocks. It also had two large, formidable horns on its face.

It all fit together in my mind. He was confident that his Mamoswine would have been able to take Skyler, and that Ares wouldn't have been able to take something as strong and durable as a Rhyperior. Unfortunately for him, however, Skyler had survived. Even worse, hydro pump would be doubly effective on a Pokemon that was of both the rock and ground types, such as Rhyperior.

"Hydro pump," I said to Skyler, smirking. He obliged and shot one of his pressurized jets of water at the bulky reptile, who was far too slow to even begin moving out of the way. It crashed into it, drenched it and threw it backwards, into the cages and tanks on the back wall. Incredibly, none of them even broke. I assumed they were reinforced.

The Rhyperior had also been knocked unconscious. I had won my seventh badge.

"Here you go," Vernon growled, thrusting a handful of money at me, along with a badge and a TM. He grabbed my license out of my hand and signed it quickly before giving it back and turning away from me without a word.

* * *

A familiar and welcome face greeted me when I walked out of the Gym.

"Hey," Hazel greeted me, throwing her brown over one shoulder. I hadn't seen her in months. In fact, the last time I had seen her had been Christmas, although I had dropped her the occasional text since. Her face was a welcome one.

"Hi," I replied stupidly, not being able to think of anything interesting to say.

"Is he as bad as people say?" She asked, nodding to the Gym behind me. She was as cool and confident as ever.

"He tried to kill my Salamence, but I got lucky," I replied. "Don't face him unless you have something that you know could wipe the floor with anything he could throw at you," I advised her.

"I have Jeet, my Hitmonlee," she told me. "I'd say he's good enough."

"Probably. That thing scared me back in Saffron," I agreed.

"Saffron..." She sighed. "That must have been, what, six months ago?" She went on.

"At least," I responded.

"This is the first time we've seen each other in over six months," she commented.

"It doesn't seem it," I remarked. In all honesty, I had missed her during those six months.

"Do you want to come a walk with me?" She asked, taking me by surprise. My heart rate doubled. Probably tripled, actually.

"I thought you were going to challenge the Gym?" I asked, before I could stop myself. Being the idiot I was, I couldn't just say yes.

"I was going to, but I think I'll leave it until tomorrow," she replied.

"Ah, right. Okay then," I said, managing not to stutter out of nervousness. That in itself was a miracle.

We engaged in small talk for a while, walking through the town and towards route forty-four. Route forty-four was long and wide, filled with trees and long grass, with two ponds that the forests sort of weaved around. The whole time, I was practically shaking with nerves.

"Through the gate?" I asked, nodding to the small building ahead of us.

"Or we could go around," she suggested, taking my hand and leading me to the left. My heart nearly leaped into my throat. I had been less scared when Connie was holding a gun to back of my skull.

I cursed my inability to think of anything to say. I was perfectly capable of making smart ass remarks when I was handcuffed, sitting on a chair and at gun point, but as soon as there was a girl I liked in that way, my general ability to speak all went to hell.

"I've missed you, you know," she confessed as walked hand in hand under the shade of a tree.

"I missed you too," I replied. I was acting like the dullest fucker ever. Not intentionally, obviously.

We had stopped and were standing under a large tree. I found my hands moving towards her hips and at the same time felt her hands moving to my shoulders. Our lips met briefly. It was just a light peck, before a harsh sound interrupted us and we broke apart.

It was like an alarm or klaxon or something, and it was coming from the town. We both turned simultaneously to see a lot of bright lights at the center of the town.

"We should see what's happening," Hazel suggested. To an extent, I agreed. It seemed important, it might involve us somehow and it just generally seemed like something we should know about. On the other hand, I would be content to stay and kiss her.

"We should," I reluctantly agreed.

"Your Salamence can carry both of us, can't he?" She asked.

"Yeah," I confirmed. I quickly released him, jumped on his back and wrapped my arms around his neck. I beckoned for Hazel to climb on as well. "Skyler, town," I ordered, nodding towards the bright lights and harsh sounds of Mahogany.

I felt Hazel's arms around my waist as Skyler lifted himself off the ground. We hadn't walked far, so the flight back took only minutes.

When we arrived, we were both freezing from the flight, but I offered her my hoodie anyway, just to be a gentleman. She reluctantly took it. There was a huge crown gathered in front of a platform. Harriet Gillan, a high ranking government official, was standing on the platform with a microphone attached to the front of her shirt. Alexander Diamond was also there, as well as a few others I recognized from T.V. There must have been dozens of bodyguards around the place as well.

I took Hazel's hand to make sure we didn't get separated in the crowd. She clutched my hand a little too tightly, unintentionally letting me know that she was scared. I was a little tougher than that. I wouldn't start to get scared unless people started fighting, and even then, I knew I was more likely to just get violent.

"Eve of Azelea Town has been assassinated by criminal trainers," Harriet announced, voice amplified by her microphone. The crowd suddenly went quiet. "They're trying to blame it on the government, and there is convincing circumstantial evidence, but that's down to nothing more than coincidence," she went on.

Eve was dead? As in Eve the Gym Leader? I was actually finding this hard to believe.

"No one move," Alexander called quite suddenly. Their bodyguards all suddenly took out guns and aimed them at the crowd. That's about the time when I realized that it was more like a private army, not a troop of bodyguards. "Yes, we are confiscating Pokemon, but only for security reasons," Alexander informed the furious crowd.

I felt Hazel move closer to me, and felt her squeeze my hand a little tighter.

The real war had definitely just begun.


	52. My Dragon Eats Bullets For Breakfast

Shedding Skins

Chapter Fifty Two

My Dragon Eats Bullets For Breakfast

* * *

Several things happened at once.

First of all, Pauli Grey made a dramatic entrance, riding on the back of his battle scarred Staraptor.

Secondly, a trainer released a Garchomp that destroyed a nearby floodlight with a dragonbreath attack.

Third, one of the government's private soldiers fired off a shot into the crowd that hit a young trainer.

Then, simply chaos.

The crowd started moving about me, and I felt Hazel being pulled away from me. As hard as I tried, I couldn't keep a hold of her hand.

"Hazel!" I screamed. I knew she couldn't hear me. Hell, I couldn't hear me over all the noise. I caught a glimpse of brown hair and knew immediately that it was her. I pushed through the crowd, throwing punches to get past when necessary, all the while keeping my eyes locked onto her.

I heard the muffled sound of my name coming from Hazel, who was only meters from me by now. I threw a right cross and knocked the trainer in front of me to the ground. I jumped over him and sprinted the short distance to Hazel, gripped her left hand in my right and started practically dragging her along with me.

"Run!" I screamed in her ear. Even then, I'm sure she barely heard me.

I heard gunshots and saw some people suddenly falling. At the same time, fire, water, rocks, acid, mud, ice and everything else I could think of started flying overhead. I didn't need to look to know that Pauli had released his whole team of veteran warriors.

Hazel and I - mostly myself, actually - were still battling our way through the crowd. Some people were releasing their Pokemon, but they became immediate targets. When there were guns on the scene, I would rather not have risked the safety of my team. I'm pretty sure even bullets couldn't stop Skyler, but better to be safe than sorry.

We suddenly burst from the crowd and finally had a few inches of space again. I dragged Hazel round a corner quickly to get her out of the way of the Pokemon attacks and the bullets.

"Fly us out of here," she pleaded, eyes wide and close to tears.

"Skyler would attract too much attention," I told her.

"How do we get out of here?" She asked, terrified. It was strange to see her so frantic.

"I get Ares to fly you to Cianwood," I told her.

"And leave you? Fuck that!" She exclaimed.

"He can't carry the two of us," I replied. I dropped Ares' pokeball and he burst out in a flash of light. "Cianwood," I instructed him, gesturing to Hazel.

"You can't just stay," She told me, stubbornly refusing to mount Ares.

"I'm going to anyway," I told her. "I have things to do."

"You can't!" She practically screamed.

"I am. Now he can't do that in one trip. He'll need to keep resting, but you'll be out of the danger in seconds probably," I replied.

"Don't die," she told me, seeming to sense that I was insistent on staying, then wrapped her arms around me. We stayed there for a few seconds before we broke apart and she jumped on Ares' back. Seconds later, I couldn't locate my giant dragonfly, or his passenger.

I leaned back against the wall, trying to formulate a plan. I could easily have got Cerletti to teleport me out, but I didn't. I wanted to stay and try to help. I knew I was a strong trainer and felt that it was my duty to help. The other towns and cities all had Gym Leaders to defend them, but Vernon wouldn't do anything. Pauli was an incredible trainer, but his team was old. They probably all had health issues, and were probably out of practice.

I released my team one by one, thinking about how I was going to play this.

"Naja, acid," I instructed the snake. "River, water," I ordered the fish-cat-dog hybrid. "Cel, fire," I commanded the flaming weasel. "You, do whatever you want," I said to Skyler, knowing full well that he could handle himself. I hadn't wanted to take the chance earlier, but I was ready for this now.

The two politicians were important, but the private soldiers were the real problem. My aim was to have my team take them all out while I targeted the politicians. I drew my knife and silently gave thanks to whoever passed the law allowing me to carry it legally.

Skyler, predictably, started the assault off. He stood tall and proud and unleashed a stream of blue-green fire that scorched several private soldiers and took them out for good. After that, the others started following suit. River sniped them from a distance, Cel scorched them in larger groups from closer up and Naja drenched them in acid from both near and far. Skyler wreaked general havoc with all of the weapons in his arsenal.

Most of the trainers were trying to escape. A few were also fighting back, with similar goals as me, but I was probably the strongest and most able of them - excluding Pauli, obviously. There were other trainers in the crowd that were stronger than me, but they were fleeing.

I spotted a face I recognized in the crowd. A tall, slim figure about my age. Close cropped black hair. I wanted to punch him in the face.

"Damian!" I shouted at the top of my voice. There wasn't as much noise now, since a lot of people had either died or escaped already. Thankfully, Damian heard me. He turned around and caught sight of me, then beckoned for me to go over to him. I started running towards him, but as I did so, I noticed him pull out a handgun. I was about to dive to the ground to avoid being shot when I realized that he was aiming just to my right. One of the private soldiers fell to the ground next to me with a bullet in his head.

"You got a plan?" He asked me, head darting from side to side, looking for targets he could shoot.

"Yeah, but it's vague," I replied, gripping my knife tight in my right hand, ready to stab at anyone who came close.

"Explain," he said.

"Pokemon take the soldiers, we take out Alexander and Harriet," I elaborated.

"Let's go," he smirked. I found myself grinning, despite the situation.

I barged through the rapidly thinning crowd, thin, lanky Damian following in my wake and shooting every so often. I knew he was a strong trainer, but I didn't know which of the Pokemon in the vicinity were his. Mine, on the other hand, I kept on the lookout for.

They were all doing well enough. Naja had lost the last foot or so of his tail, but I knew it would grow back. Cel was limping, but still setting anything and everything in range on fire. River was bleeding from a large gash on her back, but she was surviving. Skyler was bleeding from numerous cuts and was covered in bruises, but he was still fighting tooth and nail. He had also probably killed as many soldiers as the rest of them combined.

"Here," Damian shouted, ducking behind a large pile of steel. I ducked behind it as well and crouched next to him.

The pile of steel shifted, and I realized that it was actually a Steelix, though not a colossal one, not the kind capable of destroying cities. It was considerably bigger than Tyson's Onix, however. I surmised that it belonged to Damian.

"Is it injured?" I asked him, gesturing to his steel snake.

"Yeah, but that's from my battle with Vernon earlier," he explained. "As long as she keeps her eyes closed, bullets can't harm her," he went on.

"Guys!" I bellowed. A human wouldn't have heard me, but Cel and River easily heard with their acute hearing. Naja didn't hear me, but I had anticipated that anyway. Skyler couldn't hear me over the sounds of himself killing people. The other two, however, eventually arrived. "Take cover here," I instructed them. That would make them a whole lot safer.

"They're only being guarded by three soldiers," Damian informed me, peeking round the side of his Steelix. "I'm a good shot with this," he went on, holding up his handgun. "I can take out two before the third retaliates, but if you can get in close and kill the third, we're good," he finished.

"So, what, I sneak up, get close without them noticing, you shoot two, I stab one and then the politicians are defenseless?" I asked.

"Yeah," he confirmed.

I set off through the crowd, which was becoming ever more sparse. More people escaping or dying. I was lucky I hadn't been hit by a stray bullet already. Eventually, I got near to the politicians. I hid on the stairs leading up to the platform and signaled to Damian with a wave of my hand. He nodded, stood up and started firing.

They all turned to see Damian shooting. Their backs to me, I sprinted up behind them. Just as I started running, one soldier fell. I was getting closer to them. The two remaining soldiers had their guns at the ready. I got closer still. The soldier furthest from me fell, Damian managing to shoot first. The one closest to me fired just as I barged into him, making him misfire.

He turned around to face me, but I grabbed his collar with my left hand and started stabbing with my right. It wasn't an elegant attack. I jabbed at his stomach rapidly and aggressively while holding onto his collar with my other hand to prevent him from escaping. Knife fighting isn't really about saber grips or figure eight slashes, it's about fear and aggression and shock.

He fell away from me, half a dozen holes in his stomach. I can't say it bothered me all that much, I was still alive, as were all my team members. That was what really mattered to me.

I then turned my attention on Alexander and Harriet. The former was already running, but the latter seemed too shocked to move. I stepped towards her and attacked her in a similar fashion. I then noticed Alexander collapsing mid run. Damian was, predictably, aiming his gun at him and had just pulled the trigger.

Looking around me, I realized that the fight had basically died. Most of the soldiers were dead. The ones that weren't had dropped their guns and were raising their arms in surrender. Trainers were lying dead everywhere, some were still escaping and those who had chosen to stay were looking with disgust at the few remaining soldiers.

The soldiers didn't seem to realize that Pokemon didn't understand the concept of surrender, and were swiftly torn to pieces there and then.

Again, this didn't bother me.

I climbed off of the platform and wearily walked over Damian. Although I hadn't noticed at the time, I had sustained numerous injuries from fighting through the crowd, and I had been running a lot during the battle. I was worn out.

Naja had lost a few more inches of tail, and had also been shot twice. This didn't really bother me, I knew he would be fine. All of an Arbok's internal organs are stored inside the hood, so they were fine as long as that was undamaged. The rest of their body and tail can be injured to any degree and it will fully heal. In the case of it being severed, it grows back.

Cel's leg was twisted and bloody, clearly broken. While it was clearly painful, it wasn't exactly life threatening, and for that, I was thankful.

River's cut was still bleeding, and now that I paid more attention, looked deeper and more painful than what I had originally thought. The risk of infection coulb be a problem in the future, I realized.

Skyler was worse than any of them. He had been shot more than once and had sustained numerous other injuries as well, including an oddly bent and twisted tail that I assumed was broken. He was covered in blood, most of it not his own, but was still standing tall and proud, even though he must have been in an immense amount of pain

All of them would probably need at least mild medical attention when this was all over.

"You're insane," Damian told me as I reached him. I took this as a compliment. I tripped over a piece of wreckage as I reached him and fell. Out of exhaustion, I didn't even put my hands out to try and cushion my fall, but Damian managed to catch me before I smashed my face on the ground.

"Let's go," I said to him, regaining some strength. I trudged towards the Mahogany Gym, my new friend following behind me.

It was exactly the same as it had been when I was in here earlier. The monstrous half evolved Pokemon in the cages and tanks were screaming and shrieking, presumably at the commotion that had been going on outside.

"Linus," he greeted me with false welcome. "And Damian too," he added, surprised.

"Why weren't you out there fighting?" I asked, angry. Not even just angry, furious.

"Linus, I can understand why you would come in here and start mouthing off - you're reckless and a bit insane. But Damian, I thought you were smart," Vernon almost laughed.

"I'm smart enough to bring this," Damian growled, drawing his gun and aiming it at Vernon, who was already reaching for a pokeball. Damian, however, was far faster and had his gun pointed at Vernon's chest before his hand had even touched a pokeball.

"Well played," Vernon smirked, relaxing his hand and putting it in his pocket. He knew that if he tried anything, Damian could, and would, shoot him. "Why do you have that anyway?" He asked, nodding at the gun. "You know they're illegal to carry."

"Got a special license," Damian grinned.

"Where did you get it then? They're hard to obtain anyway, even if you have a license," Vernon spoke.

"Barry gave it to me, free of charge. Kevin probably supplied him with it," Damian explained. I didn't know who either of these people were.

"Well, anyway, you two should back off," Vernon warned us, but I was feeling cocky.

"Or what?" I goaded.

"Well, there's a wandering Gardevoir that you seem fond of. Then there's that little ginger kid that you briefly took under you wing," Vernon explained. "How would you feel if they stopped breathing?"

"You -" I started, but he cut me off.

"You've fucked with Hawkes and the government, but I'm on a different level. Forrest Wilbanks? I could get him as well. His little girlfriend? Her too. That promising new intern at the Elm Lab? Him as well," he threatened.

"Adam?" I asked, not sure if that's who he was referring to. Adam had got an internship? I couldn't help myself from feeling happy for him, despite the situation we were in.

"Yeah, now beat it," Vernon demanded.

"What's to stop me from shooting you right now?" Damian asked, seeming to genuinely wonder.

"Murder's illegal, for one. There are people who would want to slowly and painfully kill you for it, for another, and you know it" Vernon smirked cockily.

"I'm wanted already," Damian countered. "And I know I'm smart enough to avoid pursuers," he added.

"These guys are tough. I'm not sure if you could deal with them," Vernon opined.

"Barry and Kevin would help. You know that," Damian argued. Barry and Kevin again. Who were these people?

Vernon opened his mouth to reply, but Damian pulled the trigger before he had a chance to say anything. Vernon tried to jump out the way at the same time, but the bullet still caught him in the shoulder and sent him to the ground.

Yet more violence. I was far too tired for this, and wondered why I hadn't just left Vernon alone in the first place. I had to stop picking fights.

Damian would have fired again, but he had to reload. He did this with practiced speed and precision, not wasting a moment of time, but Vernon was already moving by then. He had got to his feet and drawn a gun of his own from inside his jacket.

I had been among flying bullets earlier, but this was so much worse. There were only three targets in the room, and I was the only one without a gun. It was terrifying. Firefights were not my thing.

I just sort of stood there, a spectator, as the two of them ran and fired shot after shot. Vernon was clearly at a disadvantage because of his injured shoulder, but he was a capable marksman nonetheless. Eventually, however, he ran out of bullets, not one having hit Damian - although a few had came close.

A cross between an Alakazam and a Kadabra - Alakadabra? - stuck its hand through the bars of one cage, and Vernon dived for it. Teleportation really was an amazing way to escape. He slid across the floor on his side, flying towards the psychic's hand, but Damian managed pull the trigger before he escaped. He fired off his last bullet and caught Vernon directly in the chest.

"We're done," Damian sighed wearily, turning away from the dead Gym Leader.


	53. Where We Stand

Shedding Skins

Chapter Fifty Three

Where We Stand

* * *

Author's Note : First update in forever basically. Sorry, but real life and stuff. Anyway, here it is, finally!

* * *

Cerletti teleported Damian and I to Cianwood before departing for whereabouts unknown to me. I had dropped my Pokemon off at the Center to be healed and then headed straight to bed.

I awoke with a generally sore body and headed straight out to train in the mountains around Cianwood. It was an uncommon training destination, as the rocky terrain made it difficult to traverse, but I welcomed the challenge.

Cel had broken her leg in the riot, but had then evolved overnight, which completely healed it somehow. Not like I was complaining about it. Along with her evolution came a great deal more power. She wasn't by any means as strong as Skyler, but she was roughly on par with Ares now.

Skyler was beat up, with a broken tail and multiple gunshot wounds, but he simply torched things from a distance with dragonbreath so he didn't have to get close and risk further injury. He would have probably risked it anyway if I hadn't instructed otherwise.

Naja's wounds were healing. He had been shot a few times, but I knew his body would heal. He was also rapidly catching up to Ares and Cel. His intelligence meant that he could follow instructions to the letter, and even formulate his own plans if need be. His rapidly improving battling capabilities added to his threat level and made him almost as formidable as Ares of Cel.

River, unfortunately was not doing nearly as well. She was a nimble creature, able to dodge a wide variety of attacks, but her own offensive abilities weren't strong enough to do nearly as much damage to her opponents as was needed, unless she had a type advantage. She was also very physically frail, not able to make much in the way of physical attacks before she needed bailing out. She was temporarily unable to battle anything strong as well, due to the gash in her back, which was quite debilitating. Added to this, she wasn't particularly intelligent either.

Ares was still in Hazel's possession, which I found unsettling. Not that I didn't trust her with him or anything - I wouldn't have let her borrow him if I hadn't - but it was odd not to have Ares there. I felt vulnerable. He was my fastest Pokemon, and one of my most formidable, as well as probably my favorite. I did love all of my team dearly, but I had favorites, there was no point in denying it.

"You," I heard a voice say to me. I recognized the voice, although I had never spoken to its owner. It was a somewhat deep, but feminine voice, serious, with a tone of authority behind it. I knew that the speaker was a she, and I knew that she wasn't really that much older than I was.

"Yeah?" I replied, turning around. I confirmed that my guess was right. It was Jan. She was in her late teens, with thick, wild, shockingly white hair. She wore a plain purple long sleeved t-shirt and black skinny jeans. Overall, she was just odd looking, but I knew she was a formidable trainer.

"I'm disappointed that I never got a chance to battle you," she said, giving me a hard look.

"You know me?" I asked.

"Who doesn't?" She almost scoffed. "You're the boy that can send Allan Hawkes running," she went on.

"Trying to stay out of trouble," I informed her.

"Bit late for that," she chuckled dryly.

"Anyway, what is it? Any particular reason you came here?" I asked.

"Badges are irrelevant now, but I think you're an eight badge trainer anyway. I wouldn't usually do this, but you are exceptional, let's face it. So, would you like a chance to win your final badge?" She asked.

I grinned to myself. I wasn't sure if I could win or not, but it was worth a try. "One on one," I requested. I was planning to use only Cel, seeing as the others were all injured in some way. Her evolution, however, had restored her to full health.

"Fine by me," she complied, then let out a shrill whistle. "The battle's begun already, just so you know," she informed me. As she said this, I heard a loud crack from behind me. The ground where Cel had been only a second ago had actually been cracked, but she had managed to dash away before any damage was done to her.

"Guys," I called to the other three, returning them one by one.

I then took a minute to admire tha beast that I was currently facing. It was huge, taller than me, and was basically a mountain of muscle covered in a thick layer of fat. It's skin was of a similar hue to my own, although its arms and legs were covered in coarse, brown hair. Its head and chest were covered in white hair. It had a heavy, low slung jaw and powerful teeth designed for chewing through tough plant material, as well as an upturned nose and dark, sunken eyes.

One of the most formidable species of Pokemon in existence. Not one that was easily trained, obtained, or defeated. In the wild, they are preyed upon by very few, if any, predators. They are strong, fast, hardy and generally intelligent. Overall, powerful adversaries for most, if not all, other Pokemon species. Cel would be facing a Slaking.

"I knew that your only healthy Pokemon was your Typhlosion, but decided against giving myself a type advantage. Would be unfair, considering your other Pokemon are injured," Jan told me.

"Because a superpowered ape is so much better," I remarked dryly.

"Why don't we add a condition to the battle?" She suggested, smirking. I got a strange feeling about her. She really got a kick out of battling. Sure, every trainer did, at least to some extent, but she was over the top about it. It was really like she lived for battling.

"What have you got in mind?" I asked. Cel and the Slaking were still eyeing each other up.

"We're not allowed to give commands," she grinned. I thought this over. Cel was a clever Pokemon and a cunning creature. Not on the same kind of level as Naja, but easily the most intelligent Pokemon on my team aside from him. The odds were that the Slaking was of average intelligence. The whole no command thing would probably put Cel at an advantage.

"Yeah, why not?" I agreed.

"Get it!" Jan called straight away.

"Go!" I shouted to Cel at almost the same time.

The Slaking leaped forward and swung its massive arm downwards to wards Cel. My Typhlosion dropped and dashed to one side on all fours, then proceeded to run past the gorilla and scorch it with a stream of fire. It burned the beast's chest and arms, but it didn't so much as flinch.

Cel started running, then proceeded to climb atop a high, craggy rock outcrop. She started firing down streams of fire at the massive ape, which countered by picking up a massive chunk of rock - which it had broken free when attempting to hit Cel - and using it as a shield. It blocked a few of Cel's fire attacks and then hurled the rock at her. To evade the rock, she had to actually dive from the outcrop.

The ape was more intelligent than I had gave it credit for.

The moment she landed, the Slaking went for her on all fours. As it neared her, it rose onto two feet and grabbed at her with its massive hands. Cel weaved around its hands, being faster and more agile than the much larger and stronger primate. She attacked with quick bites and scratches while the ape made more grabs for her and she continued to evade it.

Cel had the advantage of being a predator. She had instincts, and natural weapons and abilities, all of which complimented each other. In the wild, Typhlosion killed for a living, so they had to be good at it. Slaking, on the other hand, just happened to be very large and powerful creatures. Their diet mainly consisted of plants, so killing wasn't an essential part of their lives.

She tried to go for a throat bite, but the Slaking finally managed to hit her with one of its thick forearms. It wasn't really a direct hit, but coming from something with strength, like that, it didn't really matter. Cel was sent stumbling backwards and couldn't help but falling over. The ape jumped over to her and reached for her.

I knew that if that ape managed to actually get a hold of Cel, she wouldn't be escaping. The only way she would get free would be if the gorilla decided on its own to let go. The thing had the strength to just snap a limb in two with minimal effort. I wasn't liking Cel's odds.

It grabbed one of her back legs and my hope dropped to zero. However, the thing decided then to swing and throw her into the rocky outcrop she had been standing on not long ago. My hopes soared once again. She had hit the outcrop and been injured quite badly, but she was still able to fight at least, and that meant I had a fighting chance.

She sprinted at the Slaking, teeth bared, claws at the ready, fire dripping from her mouth. I think she had realized that she had dealt barely any damage to the Slaking and knew that she had to inflict some if she was to win, even if that meant being reckless and charging the thing head on.

She threw herself at it, but it started to glow red. She phased right through the semi corporeal form of the glowing Slaking and landed on the other side of it, snarling. The ape then disappeared into its pokeball, which was being held by a smirking Jan.

"I forfeit," Jan smiled. This took me completely off guard. Not that I was complaining, it meant that I would get a badge.

"Why? You would probably have won," I replied.

"I would definitely have won," she corrected. "That wasn't an eight badge Pokemon, that was a member of my actual team. A somewhat new, inexperienced member, but a member of my real team nonetheless," she went on.

Cel had just held her own against one of Jan's actual Pokemon? I was having a hard time believing this.

"So why give up?" I queried.

"I knew it was a lost cause on your part, but I wanted to see how hard you would try anyway, how good you would be," she explained.

"And how good was I?" I asked.

"Good enough," she replied, then threw a badge to me. I didn't even take the time to inspect it, I just shoved it in my pocket.

Yes. Eight badges, finally.

* * *

Later, I had decided to try and track down Hazel. I knew I'd have to at some point because, apart from anything else, she was still in possession of Ares. I wasn't looking forward to my reunion with Hazel to be honest. I had no idea what was happening between the two of us, I was nervous and figured it would probably be awkward. That was assuming she had even made it to Cianwood.

"Hey, I heard about you," I heard a familiar voice say as I walked through the Center doors. Marnie made her way over to me on crutches, leg still bandaged up. "Then again, who hasn't?"

"No one, apparently," I replied dryly. I was about to ask her if she had seen Hazel, but another thought occurred to me. "Did you fight your way through the riots in crutches?"

"I did, but it's not like I actually fought the government," she smirked.

"Yeah, yeah, I did," I waved her off. I didn't see the big deal about me fighting on the side of trainers. To be honest, I would have expected far more trainers to have fought, and far less to run away. "Who else is here?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Damian, but you know that already. Me, obviously, Tyson and probably Scarlett. As for high ranking trainers, most of the Gym Leaders, Elite Four Shenzi and Leon and Pauli," she listed.

"Forrest not here?" I asked.

"No one's seen him since Raynor's breakdown," Marnie informed me. "I asked Scarlett to search for him with one of her fliers, but she couldn't find him," she added.

"You remember Hazel?" I asked Marnie. I knew she didn't know Jean, and probably hadn't gotten a good look at Connie's face, but she had met Hazel I was sure.

"That brunette girl you battled a while ago? The one you've got your eye on?" She asked. Forrest, you douche.

"Forrest told you that?" I already knew the answer.

"Yeah. I would have figured it out anyway, it's not really subtle now that I think about it," she told me.

"Well, you seen her?" I asked.

"I'm pretty sure I have actually. She's got a Yanmega, hasn't she? Bit of a coincidence," she remarked.

"That was Ares she was riding," I corrected her.

"Why did she have Ares?" Marnie looked puzzled.

"Ugh, bit of a long story," I waved her question away. "I'll tell you some other time."

"Okay," Marnie said. "Well, she's booked in here, not sure if she's out just now though," Marnie informed me.

"Thanks, later."

"Bye," she replied. I walked up to the desk and rang the bell to get the nurse's attention.

"Are there any Hazels booked in?" I asked.

"Surname?" My mind went blank. Oh God, I didn't even know her last name.

"Sorry, I don't know..." I admitted.

"There's only one Hazel here just now anyway," the nurse told me.

"Could you tell me what room she's in?" I requested, sighing with relief. Not being able to find her because of a lack of a second name would have been embarrassing. The nurse told me the room number and I took to the stairs, heart thudding like it never had before - well, not as far as I could remember.

There are riots? I'm stuck in a fire? People want to kill me? That's fine. Girl on the scene? Oh dear God, please help me.

I reached her door and knocked loudly, three times. I waited and waited and waited. Then...nothing. Dammit. She must be out.

"Hi," she said as she opened the door. Apparently she wasn't out then.

"Hey," I replied.

"Come in," she said, beckoning me into the room. I followed behind her. I was convinced that my heart might just stop beating. I sat on the edge of the bed while she rummaged in her bag for something.

"How are you?" I asked, trying to provoke a conversation. It was a bland, boring statement, but it was better than nothing at all.

"I'm good: I wasn't the one fighting in the riot," she responded. "Oh, and here's your Yanmega," she added, throwing Ares' pokeball to me. "He really is a well trained Pokemon by the way," she went on. "But anyway, are you okay?"

I was not okay. My entire body felt like a single giant bruise, but I had managed to more or less ignore that the rest of the day. My Pokemon - apart from Ares - were in an even worse state. My head was a bit all over the place as well, if I was being honest. I had killed a few people at least, and it did bother me a little. Not as much as it should have, but a little still.

"I'm fine," I lied casually. That was actually quite far from the truth. I knew I was not totally normal, I knew I was at least a bit sick and twisted. I was probably unstable. Wouldn't have surprised me if I'd had a mental problem or two. I was pretty sure I couldn't even be considered a decent guy anymore. It didn't bother me nearly as much as it should have.

She sat down on the bed next to me. She had chosen to sit close to me. Very close. I didn't miss this.

"Why did you stay back and fight?" She asked, a perplexed expression on her face.

"I don't even know. Because I'm stupid?" I replied. She laughed a little.

"It was brave," she opined.

"It was reckless," I scoffed. Brave? Give me a break.

"It's because you're a decent person," she said sincerely. She really didn't know me at all, but she was under the impression that she did.

"I think it's because I felt obliged to fight for the trainers," I answered honestly. I wasn't a hundred percent on why I had actually stayed, but obligation was certainly part of it.

"You're still a decent person," she told me. I disagreed.

"I've killed people," I told her. "That put you off me?" I was well aware that it could ruin my chances with her, but I wanted her to know what kind of person she was getting involved with. Being honest, it wasn't just for her sake. I didn't want to have to pretend to be a nice guy.

"I knew that already. And you know what? It doesn't really," she smiled.

She leaned in for a kiss and I did likewise.


	54. This Has Went Balls Up

Shedding Skins

Chapter Fifty Four

This Has Went Balls Up

* * *

Author's Note : Yes, I know this chapter is heavy on text. Deal with it.

Also, not to get your hopes up, 'cause I might lose enthusiasm again, but I think I might be back to my old update schedule - that is, a chapter or two a week. MAYBE. Not making any promises.

* * *

Hazel was still asleep. We had been lying in her bed and had stayed up talking so late that we both fell asleep. I couldn't feel my arm because of the way she was lying on it, but I endured it rather than waking her up.

I may not have wanted to wake her up, but my life had other plans. My phone started ringing and she awoke with a start.

"Fuck," I hissed, digging around in my pocket for my bastard phone.

"What...?" Hazel asked sleepily.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"It's Tyson. Yeah, this is important, can you be at the penthouse in about ten minutes?" Came his voice through the phone.

"What penthouse?" I asked, irritated.

"Every Center has a penthouse. In case some official or celebrity comes to stay, although they're rarely used," he explained. "I wouldn't ask on such short notice, but this is important," he finished, before hanging up.

"Sorry, but I need to go," I groaned, pocketing my phone.

"Why?" Hazel asked.

"I don't even know, but it's apparently important," I replied.

"Oh, okay then. Bye," she said, calm and confident as ever.

"Bye," I responded, leaning in and quickly kissing her, my heart leaping into my throat as I did so. I got up and left after that, not even needing to get dressed, seeing as we had both fell asleep fully clothed.

Climbing the stairs to this damn penthouse seemed to take forever. I cursed the fact that the penthouse was right at the top of the Center and the fact that I wasn't allowed to use the lift because I wasn't disabled. Stupid rules.

When I walked in, all the furniture had been cleared away, apart from eighteen chairs, all arranged in a big circle. Tyson, Shenzi, Leon, Reece, Jan and Zach were all seated, with two younger trainers between each of them. Tyson was the only exception, with an empty chair on either side of him.

The only younger trainer I recognized was Damian, who was seated next to Reece.

A few others caught my eye, however. The trainers on either side of Zach, both of which were built like marines. One had an expression akin to an angry Pokemon and long, wild brown hair. The other one had curly, wiry, red hair and just looked exhausted.

A girl sitting next to Jan, with long, thick auburn hair. She had so much hair that it actually looked like too much for her head. She had a pair of square glasses and looked younger than what she must have been. She was also wearing an expensive looking white dress. She was what most people would probably describe as cute.

I also noticed that most people in the room were dressed in their best clothes. Myself and the pair of trainers beside Zach were among the few that weren't. They were dressed simply in t-shirts, combat pants and boots, basically identical aside from the colors.

"Hey," the redheaded older trainer called to me, beckoning me over. I made my way over and sat down next to him.

"What's happening?" I asked Tyson, thoroughly confused.

"Well -" He started, but was cut off by Leon speaking.

"Yeah, think everyone that's gonna show is here," the dopey Elite Four member announced.

"So, down to business," Shenzi started. "The six of us have been designated the leaders -" she went on, but was cut off by the sound of the door opening.

"Why only you six?" Forrest asked, striding into the room in a black suit. His hair had been cut, but was still in a short style, and he looked healthier and more alive than I had ever seen him before. I also noticed how massive he had actually gotten. He was nearly as big as Zach's two trainers.

"You made it!" Tyson shouted happily, gesturing Forrest over to sit on the other side of him. Forrest gave me a nod as he walked past, to acknowledge my presence. I returned it. We couldn't just launch into conversation and start talking our usual crap at a time like that, so nods would have to be sufficient.

"There are reasons the other high ranking trainers aren't leaders," Reece explained calmly. "Lee and Eve died in the riots, which is tragic. They were good trainers and good people," he informed us. I already knew about Eve - although her death had apparently preceded the riots - but Lee was news to me. The fiery martial artist had been the Gym Leader in my hometown, and I had frequently looked up to him during my childhood. Not because I particularly preferred him over the other Leaders, but because he was the one I most often saw and heard about. "Other deaths were not so tragic," he added, clearly referring to the deceased Hank Vernon.

"Kate and L.J weren't chosen because of their general lack of experience," Jan told the rest of us.

"We're the only two Elite Four members that are going to be here," Leon said, gesturing to himself and Shenzi. "That's why the other two aren't leaders."

"Raynor suffered a breakdown," Tyson informed the other trainers. "He's just completely...Anyway, I know he's not dead, but it's still unfortunate," he went on, near enough tearing up.

"Scarlett - one of the other favourites to win this year's championship - didn't want to be a leader," Zach said. I got the feeling that Tyson was going to explain, but wouldn't have been able to without bursting into tears after the thought of Raynor.

"Pauli is quite frankly too old for this," Shenzi then called out. "I know he seems unstoppable, but he could drop dead any minute, and we can't have that."

"Why are we here though?" One of the other trainers called out, getting impatient.

"We've decided that each of the leaders is to have two other trainers that serve directly underneath them," Shenzi explained.

"Lieutenants, or right hand men, if you will," Reece chipped in.

"And that's us?" Another trainer asked.

"Yeah," Leon called out.

"The leaders in question know both the trainers personally and pick them not only for their training skill, but for other qualities, such as bravery," Jan informed us.

"You'll also get two other trainers assigned to you that will serve directly underneath you," Reece added.

"What about the psychopaths here?" One of the trainers asked, gesturing to Damian and I. "I was there during the Mahogany riots, and I think these two are dangerous," he opined.

"Hey," Damian pulled him up for his comment. "What were you doing? Shitting it, that's what," he practically growled, yet it was still audible.

"We were getting shot at!" I called to the ignorant trainer. "We could have died! We were risking our lives while you were running!"

"If people like you hadn't bailed out, a lot more trainers - and Pokemon - would still be alive, so shut it," Damian went on. The other trainer had nothing to say to that.

"I've not got a problem with Linus and Damian," one of the girls started. How did she know our names? "But those two next to Zach look don't even look like trainers."

"We're not really," the red haired one said under his breath. Despite his attempt to keep it quiet, everyone heard it.

"What the hell are you then?" Someone shouted out. Zach opened his mouth to defend them, but the long haired one stood up and started speaking first.

"Does it matter what we are? Me and my team have been in more fights than you and yours ever will be!" He barked. "And I don't mean those shitty little battles you do to get badges, I mean fights. I mean actual combat," she went on, almost growling.

"So, you're what, a soldier?" The trainer said, standing up as well. "Look at the fucking size of you. You look like a marine," he said, referring to the gorilla like muscles of the teenager. "In fact, fuck that, you've got the build of a marine, but you look like a bloody gang member," he went on.

The much larger, soldier like trainer moved quicker than I had expected. He took about two steps and was then in front of the other trainer. He launched a piston like punch that collided with his victim's jaw and sent him flying backwards. He fell over his chair and landed on the ground, motionless. It didn't take a genius to work out that he was unconscious.

"Shit!" Zach's other trainer hissed, jumping to his feet. The red haired trainer was behind the brown haired one in an instant, restraining him with some form of complex hold, presumably to prevent him from attacking anyone else. The brown haired trainer twisted and did something, breaking out of the hold. He did it too quickly for me to really follow.

Brown then pushed against Red, sending him stumbling backwards. Brown threw a hook that would probably have knocked Red out cold, but Red ducked under the fist and attacked with a jab. Brown batted his arm away before it hit and grabbed Red's collar with his other hand. Red grabbed Brown's wrist with both hands and twisted it somehow, forcing Brown to let go. This all happened quicker than I would have thought possible and, more importantly, too quickly for anyone to really do anything about it.

"Kevin! Barry!" Zach barked, standing up and getting ready to intervene. So these were the two people I kept hearing about.

"Stop!" Damian commanded, standing up and pointing his pistol at the two of them. The two stopped struggling as soon as they heard him and turned around to face him. "You two, we do not need this. Just sit back down," he ordered. Amazingly, the two much larger, more intimidating teenagers obeyed the skinny Damian, let go of each other and sat back down next to Zach.

"He's not conscious," Jan called out, kneeling beside the fallen trainer. That was a surprise to exactly zero people in the room. "Broken jaw and missing teeth," she then said. That surprised most of us. That must have been a punch and a half. "He might have a concussion or something like that, we won't know until he wakes up, will we?" Jan asked, looking for someone with more medical knowledge than herself.

"Great first impression, you two," Zach groaned, burying his face in one hand.

* * *

"What was the deal with those two?" I asked Forrest.

We had been dismissed from the meeting soon after the fight and we were just relaxing in my house. Yes, that's right, my house. The leaders, as well as their lieutenants - or whatever the hell we were - had all been given a small house on a street just a few minutes walk from the Pokemon Center. It beat the hell out of sleeping in the Center.

It was nothing fancy, just a single floor, a bedroom, a bathroom and a kitchen and living room sort of merged together. Plain wooden floors, plain white walls, naked light bulbs, a double bed in the bedroom, a table and a single couch in the living room. Nothing else furniture-wise in the house at all. Still, I could easily decorate. Get Forrest, Hazel and whoever else in to help me, it would be a laugh. Hell, I'd even get Damian to join in.

After our partnership during the Mahogany riot, my dislike for the boy had near enough disappeared. We had just gotten off on the wrong foot really, he was nowhere near as bad as I had originally thought. He was not the kind of person you wanted to fuck with, by any means, but he was a good enough guy, and I liked him now. I would even consider him a friend.

"Kevin and Barry? Not sure about Barry, but Kevin's just...I don't know, unruly? That the right word?" Forrest replied.

"Nice vocabulary," I laughed. "Wait, how do you know which one's which?" I asked him. That much had not been made clear at the meeting.

"I met Kevin a few months ago," Forrest told me. "I never kept in contact with him or anything, but we were both in...I think it was Olivine? Anyway, we were both there for a few days at the same time and talked a bit. He showed me a thing or two," he went on. "He's the one with the brown hair," he added as an afterthought.

"Such as...?" I prompted.

"A really nice throw actually. Hard to anticipate, eve harder to reverse," he answered.

"Why would he be teaching you throws?" I asked, confused.

"You not know how I get my money?" Forrest asked, amused.

"No," I said, piecing it together in my head already.

"I do underground street fights. Good money, and I'm good at it," he grinned. That would explain why he had been steadily growing bigger since I met him.

"What's that like?" I asked, interested.

"Was scary at first, but I like it now. I get hurt, but it's fun," he replied. "Well, depends where you do it, but generally," he corrected himself.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Goldenrod, for example, isn't too great. People place way more money on the fights, which means a better pay for the fighters, but more chance someone's going to stab you or something before the fight to make sure they don't lose a bet," he explained. "I've seen it happen a few times, it's not nice."

"Is everywhere like that?" I asked.

"No, some places are great. Olivine's amazing. You don't get paid anywhere near as much, but the fighting's in good spirit. Like, if you fall, your opponent would wait until you get back up. Wouldn't hit you when you're down, you know? People help you out, share fighting tips, that kind of thing. It's brilliant," he recounted.

"Sounds good," I said, actually meaning it.

"That's why I loved the Ecruteak Gym so much, 'cause of all the equipment in there," he explained.

"Ah. That makes sense now," I said, thinking back. "Still, I can't believe Lee's dead..." I trailed off, taking a moment to think about the deceased Gym Leader.

"The guy seemed invincible. You should have seen him fight, he was damn near unstoppable," Forrest recounted.

"It's just hard to believe someone like that can actually die. I know that sounds stupid 'cause everyone can die, but, you know," I sighed. We both took a minute to think about the deceased Gym Leaders and said nothing for a little while.

"But hey, I saw that brunette girl earlier," Forrest grinned. "Hazel, is it?" He asked, deliberately changing the subject.

"Yeah," I confirmed, a little exasperated.

"So, how's that going? Anything happened yet or...?" He trailed off, leaving me to guess at what he was going to say.

"I don't even know what's happening to be honest," I admitted. "We fell asleep together last night though," I added.

"Did you two...Get up to anything?" Forrest asked, nudging me with one elbow, a stupid grin on his face. Just the kind of way your best friend acts when there's romance on the scene.

"Shut up you idiot," I laughed. "No, we didn't even mean it, but we stayed up talking too late and couldn't stay awake," I elaborated.

"Relationships are far too much effort," Forrest laughed. "You'll see," he went on, with a knowing smile.

"How?" I asked, a little puzzled.

"Well, feelings are involved. Feelings don't make sense. To be honest, I want to be with Marnie because I still have feelings for her, even though getting back with her would be a stupid idea," he explained. "See? I can't win in this situation," he chuckled.

"I have a lot to look forward to," I muttered.

"Girls are confusing as well. They don't make sense. They needle at you and needle at you until you lose the rag, then they play the victim," he said. "That's not all they do, they're more trouble than they're worth in general to be perfectly honest with you," he went on. "Doesn't bother me though, I'm done with the opposite gender for the time being," he laughed.

"Wonderful," I said sarcastically.

"In all seriousness though, she seems lovely. I don't know her at all really, but from what I've seen, she seems really nice," he opined. "She seems like one of the better ones when it comes to those weirdos we call females," he laughed.

"So are you and Marnie totally done then?" I asked.

"I hope so, but I'm not a hundred percent on that," he admitted. "Not getting back with her any time soon, but in the future, who knows? I know for a fact that she wants me to take her back though," he explained.

"Then why did she...?" I started to ask, then realized how inconsiderate a question it was to ask. It was probably not the kind of thing he particularly wanted to talk about. He answered nevertheless, seeming not bothered in the slightest.

"Girls are strange and people are stupid," he said, even laughing a little. This wasn't the same Forrest that had left in a rage after Raynor's breakdown. This was an older, wiser, tougher Forrest. This was a more carefree, laidback, happier Forrest. I was happy for the change. It was for the better.


	55. I've Got A Bad Feeling About This

Shedding Skins

Chapter Fifty Five

I've Got A Bad Feeling About This

* * *

I had been dreading the two trainers being assigned to me. I had convinced myself that, with my luck, they would be useless idiots, incapable of training or battling, and, more importantly, incapable of advanced thinking. Luckily, I was wrong.

They were five badge trainers, and while their Pokemon weren't too strong, they made the most of what their team had.

The first of the trainers, and the one which I actually preferred, was named Billy. He was a short, skinny kid with dull, brown hair. He had a round face, freckles, and an impassive expression that betrayed zero emotion. He was not bad looking, just normal looking, the kind of person who could easily fade into the background. Despite this, he was sharp. He analyzed everything, was determined, ruthless and, although he respected the chain of command, was not afraid to question it.

His companion was named Scott. He was a medium height, chubby, mixed race kid. He had a constant smile on his face, and thick, curly, black hair. In terms of personality, he was outgoing, friendly, and a generally nice guy, always up for a laugh and good to talk to. He was also either very brave or very stupid, and tended to act before thinking. Although he wasn't too fond of thinking, he had that gut instinct that some people just have, which helped to make up for it.

Put together, they were an amazing team. They had met after getting their first badge, and had been friends ever since. The trust was already there, and they covered each others' weaknesses and lackings. If Billy was being too brutal with his enemies, Scott would call him out on it. If Billy had thought up a plan, Scott would be the one with the guts to carry it out. Their teams even complimented each other quite well. Overall, they were an incredible duo.

I had been just after meeting these two and was just relaxing back home. It was still strange to think that I had a home. Having a whole house to myself had seemed lonely, however, so I had let my team out. Most of my living room had been taken up by the behemoth that was Skyler. Ares was clinging to one of the living room walls. Naja was curled up in the corner. River, Cel and myself had all managed to squeeze onto the couch.

I wasn't actually doing anything. I was just lying there, relaxing, when I heard a knock at my door. I was half buried under River and Cel, and was too lazy to move anyway.

"Naja?" I gave him a pleading look. He knew what I was asking of him, and he could use his tail to actually operate the handle, but he gave me a flat look and went back to sleep anyway. "Asshole," I grunted to him, wrestling my way out from under Cel and River before making my way to the door.

"Forgot to give you this yesterday," Forrest said, handing me a brown package. I took it and then invited him into my house.

"What is it?" I asked, starting to open the packaging.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a present," he replied.

"Why am I getting a present?" I asked, sluggishly tearing more of the paper off.

"You've forgot, haven't you?" He laughed.

"What?" I was getting more and more confused.

"Your birthday was last week," he reminded me.

I had actually forgotten my own birthday. Just as I registered this, I tore the last of the packaging from my gift and looked it over. It was a plain wooden box. I opened it to find a small wooden carving of an Ekans attached to a string. I smiled to myself. I liked it.

"Saw it at a stall in the Goldenrod underground," he told me. "Like it?"

"I do. Thanks," I replied, putting it in my pocket. I would have worn it, but I knew it would end up getting ruined if I did so.

Forrest's own birthday had been a couple of weeks previous, and I had gotten some photos of the two of us plus Marnie developed as a gift.

Buying for trainers is generally difficult. We don't want a whole lot in the way of material possessions and we can afford what few things we do want. It usually comes down to buying something thoughtful. Price doesn't really matter.

I put the empty box on the table and turned to welcome Forrest into the living room.

"Whoa," he said as he walked in, startled by the presence of a giant dragon in the middle of the room. "Hey bud," he said, patting Skyler's shoulder. The beast gave him a low growl and eyed him, rage in his eyes. People simply do not have the gall to touch Skyler. No exceptions aside from myself on certain occasions.

"He will chew your arm off," I warned Forrest, who swiftly removed his limb from Skyler's reach and sat on the couch instead, making himself quite at home. "I know I've told you this all before, but you don't get how mental this dragon is," I said.

"The great thing is that your house is exactly like mine just now, so I feel at home," he grinned, looking around, just realizing this fact.

"I hate this house. It's so boring. I need to decorate," I complained. "We're talking about our houses. I didn't think we'd be doing that for years at least," I smiled, thinking about how odd a situation we were in.

"Same," Forrest agreed. "Wait, why don't we decorate today?" He then asked, springing to his feet.

"Well, I don't see why we can't," I responded.

"Great!" He exclaimed, enthusiastic. "Get Hazel round as well," he suggested. "And Damian, heard you're quite friendly with him," he went on. "And that junior trainer that you're friends with. Jean?" I nodded, confirming his guess. I thought he was going to miss out his notably ex, but he mentioned her at the last moment. "And the bitch I suppose," he smirked.

I typed a text message and was about to send it to the four aforementioned trainers, but my phone started ringing just before I pressed the send button. It was Tyson.

"Hey," I greeted him, putting the phone to my ear.

"Get Forrest and come to the penthouse," he basically ordered. In all honesty, I was unhappy with the lack of notice that he had given us, but I didn't say anything.

"Fine. We'll be there in ten," I responded before hanging up.

"Who'll be there in ten?" Forrest asked, probably guessing what had happened already.

"Me and you. Tyson wants us," I grumbled, putting my boots on. I pulled on my jacket as well, returned my team and left with Forrest.

* * *

I was expecting the six leaders and their twelve subordinates, but there only eight people in the room, all sitting t a circular table. The six leaders and Zach's two trainers - Barry and Kevin. Forrest and I brought the total up to ten.

"What do you want?" I asked as we walked in.

"We have a...Mission, I suppose, for you," Shenzi answered thoughtfully.

"What kind of mission?" Forrest asked warily, sitting down. I did likewise.

"Alexander Diamond was meant to be a double agent. He'd work in the government, but his allegiance would secretly be to us," she informed us. Well, that was a bit of a shock. "We've been informed that his loyalty actually lies with the government," she went on, choosing her words carefully.

"And you want us to, what, capture him and bring him back? Kill him? What?" Forrest demanded. I had a feeling that if the answer was murder, Forrest wouldn't be happy.

"I don't care, either will do," she replied. "You leave tomorrow morning," she then added, quite suddenly. I wasn't happy with this. Quite honestly, the only thing on my mind was Hazel, and I'd rather be with her than go on some adventure. However, I knew this was important, so I said nothing and decided to accept their request.

"Some more info would be nice," Barry commented dryly.

"Such as?" Shenzi asked sharply.

"Any, actually. You've told us fuck all," Kevin answered for his friend.

"Watch who you're talking to," Shenzi warned him, voice low.

"I'm not scared of you. Me and Barry choose to work with you, we could quit at any time," he responded.

"Without even pulling rank on you, my team can be out in two seconds," she threatened. Without warning, Barry stood, drew a bulky hand gun and aimed it at Shenzi. The entire movement lasted all of a second.

"Go, release your team. Dare you," he taunted. Shenzi cast him a vicious glare, but didn't move otherwise. "Don't ever threaten me again," he said before putting his gun away and sitting back down.

"So, more info?" Barry called out. "Anyone?"

"You can do your own fucking homework," Shenzi growled before getting up and storming out.

I heard a groan from Zach, whose face was buried in his hands. The other leaders were silent.

"I'm away to enjoy my last day here," I announced, standing up. "Later," I waved to the rest of the room and left, Forrest following behind me.

"What the hell are we going to do?" Forrest groaned as we made our way down the stairs.

"Follow Barry's lead I suppose. Kevin doesn't seem too bright," I replied.

"That's not what I mean," he sighed. "How are we going to capture this guy?"

"I don't know. Kill him instead, much easier," I shrugged. Not a big deal.

"How can you be so casual about that? That's a life!" Forrest cried.

"I don't even know how many trainers died because of him, so I don't care too much," I answered honestly. "Just saying."

"Must be nice to not get wound up about things like this," he muttered.

"It is," I answered honestly. "Not giving a fuck is brilliant and being nice is overrated anyway," I went on.

"Right, I need to do some things," Forrest groaned as we walked outside. "See you tomorrow I suppose," he said, waving me goodbye and walking in the opposite direction. I continued on in the direction of my house.

As I walked, I heard a voice shouting after me. Clearly, I could not walk home uninterrupted.

"Heard you're going away for a while," Billy said, walking up to meet me.

"Yeah. Just found out," I confirmed. "How did you know?" I asked, curious.

"I was eavesdropping outside the penthouse," he said, not bothering to hide it. I smirked. I liked this guy.

"Good," I praised him. "Playing by the rules is stupid."

"I'm glad we got assigned to you. Most of the others don't even know what they're doing," he said.

"And you think I do?" I asked, earning a laugh in return.

"Anyway, what I wanted to ask was this: what are our orders while you're gone?" I hadn't actually thought about this, but a solution popped into my head almost immediately.

"You know Damian?" I asked. He nodded his assent. "Take your orders from him while I'm gone," I instructed him. So what if I was passing the buck? I had no idea what other orders to give him.

"That all?" He asked. I was about to say yes, but another idea occurred to me.

"No, actually. There's this girl called Jean. Small, ginger, hyper. Know her?" I asked. Billy looked thoughtful for a moment.

"A bit ditzy?" He asked.

"Yeah," I laughed.

"I know her. She was passed out in the rain and I came across her. I probably saved her life," he explained. This didn't surprise me. Jean wasn't exactly independent. "What about her?"

"Keep an eye on her. If you think something's up, get there, even if it goes against Damian's orders. Got it?" He nodded. I wasn't worried about Hazel - she could handle herself. Forrest was coming on the mission with me, and he could more than fend for himself anyway. Marnie and Damian? Give me a break. Jean, though, wasn't nearly as tough as any of them. In a crisis, she'd be able to do little more than burst into tears.

* * *

About half an hour later, I was waiting in my living room, anxious. I had invited Hazel over so that I could see her before I left. She should have been there any minute.

I had also chosen to wear my birthday present from Forrest - the Ekans necklace. I'm not sure why. Maybe I thought of it as a good luck charm or something.

I was startled by the sound of Hazel knocking on the door. I cast Naja a hopeful glance - he was the only one of my Pokemon I had decided to keep out - but he just closed his eyes and went back to sleep. One of those days, I would get him to open the door for someone.

"Hi," I greeted her, opening the door and welcoming her in. He hugged awkwardly and she came in. Despite the fact that we had sort of unofficially and nonverbally acknowledged that we were in an uneasy relationship, it was just that: uneasy. Overall, a bit awkward.

"Any particular reason you invited me over?" She asked as we walked into the living room. "And any reason you get to live in a house and I need to live in the Center?" She asked jokingly.

"You know the leaders?" I asked.

"Yeah, who doesn't? Shenzi, Reece, Tyson, Leon, Jan, Zach, that right?" I nodded a confirmation.

"Well, I'm the next rank down from that," I informed her.

"You're joking!" She exclaimed.

"Nope. I serve under Tyson. So does Forrest. Damian serves under Reece as well," I explained.

"That must be great," she smiled, seeming genuinely happy for me.

"Has its perks. Getting a house to yourself and that," I grinned.

"I'm jel," she joked.

"But -" I started.

"There's always a catch," she said.

"Yeah. I need to leave tonight," I told her. The smile briefly disappeared from her face, although she quickly replaced it with a fake one.

"Why?" She asked, clearly downhearted, but trying not to show it.

"I've been sent on a mission. Forrest and Zach's two are coming with me," I explained.

"What sort of mission?" She asked, curious.

"We're to capture a double agent," I told her. Not exactly a lie, but telling her that it was actually to murder a politician probably wouldn't go down too well. I might have told her another time, but I wanted to enjoy my last night, not argue.

"So that's why you wanted to see me? Because this is your last night?" She asked, smiling.

"It is my last chance to see you," I replied. "Not sure how long this is going to take, so I don't know when I'll be back," I went on.

"What do you want to do then?" She asked, smiling. We eventually decided to watch a horror movie on the T.V. Fair enough, we talked most of the way through it, however, she cuddled closer to me at the genuinely scary parts and I held her tighter. It was nice, relaxing. Well, not so relaxing for her, seeing as the movie actually scared her, but for me at least. Horror movies were the last thing that would scare me.

"Do you not find it strange that we've known each other for about a year?" She asked me after the movie. We hadn't moved after finishing the movie, instead choosing to remain there on the couch.

"I suppose. It doesn't seem nearly as long," I replied honestly. My whole time training seemed to have flown in on one hand, but on the other hand, a time without my team seemed like ages ago. I simply could not imagine not having my Pokemon in my life.

"I didn't even really want to train," she told me.

"Then why did you?" I asked, curious.

"I wanted to get a real education, so I stayed at school for longer, but I crashed in my exams and had to take up training as an alternative," she explained.

"So what age are you?" I asked her, curious.

"I'm turning fifteen in five months," she answered. Seven months older than myself. I had thought she looked older than me when I first met her.

"We started training at roughly the same time, didn't we?" I was quite certain I was right, I was just making sure.

"Just about a year ago?" She asked.

"Yeah, we did," I responded. "So you stayed at school for an extra seven months?"

"Yeah. I was planning to go into architecture," she told me. I simply could not understand how someone could want to go into such a boring profession when Pokemon training is there instead. "You never wanted to do anything other than training?"

"Not really," I said without needing to think about it much. "I wasn't really one for school, apart from a couple of subjects, and the idea of an office or something made me want to commit," I went on.

"Adventurous then?" She asked, laughing a little.

Again, we stayed up for hours, just talking about a whole lot of nothing really. I enjoyed spending time with her, and regretted the fact that I'd have to leave the next morning.


	56. Frankenstein's Monster

Shedding Skins

Chapter Fifty Six

Frankenstein's Monster

* * *

Once again, we had fallen asleep while talking. One of my arms was pinned behind her, the other hand was resting on one of her own. I'm not sure how, but I somehow managed to wrestle my arm out from underneath her without waking her.

I got up and gathered a few things that I would need, shoved them in my rucksack, pulled on my jacket and slung said rucksack over one shoulder. My team were in their pokeballs, my keys were in my pocket, I was pretty much ready to go.

Wait, my keys? Hazel was still in here. Rather than waking her up, I decided to leave my keys with her. I left them on the table, and quickly kissed Hazel on the cheek before leaving. I knew she was sleeping and would be oblivious to it, but it was at least some form of goodbye.

It was the early hours of the morning, no one was out and there was a thick fog all around. I decided to go around to Forrest's house to get him, not having previously arranged a time or place to meet the other three.

"I figured you'd be a late sleeper as well," I heard a voice saying, just as I reached Forrest's door. I turned to see Barry standing at his own door. "Then again, most trainers are," he added.

"Where's Kevin?" I asked.

"Beating the living piss out of a punching bag," Barry replied. "He's ready to go though, it's just Forrest we're waiting for," he went on.

"I'm ready!" We heard Forrest shout from inside his house. "I just had no idea when or where we were supposed to be meeting," he went on, coming out and locking his door behind him.

"Kevin!" Barry then roared. Minutes later, an exhausted looking Kevin stepped out of the next house down.

"Wake the whole fucking town, why don't you?" Kevin grumbled.

"We all ready?" I asked. The other three nodded their assent and we set off, walking in the general direction of the Pokemon Center. "Anyone actually do any planning?" I asked as we walked.

"Luckily, you lot have me," Barry said. "The government headquarters are in Violet City, and that's where Alexander Diamond probably is," he went on.

"So how do we get in? Teleport?" Forrest guessed.

"No, they'll have dark Pokemon inside that can block teleporters," Barry resonded.

"Aren't they trying to ban Pokemon?" Forrest asked.

"No, they're trying to ban training as a hobby. They want trainers to be fewer in number and to all work for them as special branches of the military," he explained.

"Trying to capture this guy is not an option," Kevin chipped in. "With teleporting ruled out, we'd get caught. Our best bet is to snipe him from a distance, or use a real fast Pokemon to kill him," he went on.

"So, we teleport into Violet, then fight or sneak our way inside their headquarters. Agreed?" I asked. The rest of the group nodded their assent.

"Pinel," Forrest called his Pokemon, releasing the Xatu. I took the time to actually pay attention to the strange bird. Its body was primarily an olive green in coloration, although its wings were white, apart from the end feathers, which were red and black. They were also longer than the other wing feathers and gave the impression of fingers. It seemed permanently hunched over, although if it stood up straight, it wouldn't be that much shorter than myself. It's feet ended in long, curved talons. Its slanted eyes were sharp and focused, taking everything in.

It let out a loud screech and spread its wings. "Everyone, put your hand on a wing," Forrest instructed us. Barry and I placed one hand each on its left wing while Forrest and Kevin placed a hand each on its right one. "Violet Gym," he ordered. Wait, the Gym? We never agreed to that!

All being accustomed to teleporting, we didn't feel the need to dry heave on the ground for a while after arriving. The place was dark, the lights having died from lack of power ages ago. Even in the gloom, I could see that the once pristine water had been turned into a cesspool of God-only-knew-what.

"What the fuck?" Barry hissed to Forrest in a hushed tone. "This place is probably guarded!"

"Better than popping into existence in the middle of the street. And besides, I have a plan," Forrest responded. I noticed that he didn't return his psychic bird.

We walked towards the main doors, where we stopped at Forrest's signal. He glanced outside the doors, signalling to his Xatu with his eyes. The bird's eyes started glowing and we heard two thuds outside. Forrest quickly returned Pinel and gestured for us to follow him. He pushed through the doors and stepped over two unconscious men dressed in military gear. It didn't take a genius to work out that Pinel had somehow done that.

No one had seen any of it - seeing as no one had any reason to be near the Gym anymore - so we simply walked on as if nothing had happened.

Outside, it was foggy and rainy, with no one around. An advantage to coming early in the morning.

"Linus, switch your jacket with his hoodie," Barry said quietly, gesturing to Forrest. "Then put the hood up, people might recognize your face, seeing as you've been in the papers a couple of times," he elaborated. We quickly did as he suggested. I donned Forrest's grey hoodie while he put on my black jacket. I quickly hid my face with the hood and ducked my head.

"This way," Barry said, leading us away from the Gym. He seemed to know where he was going, so we all followed.

"Do we sneak in or fight our way in?" I asked as we walked.

"We need to see the set up of the place before we decide," Kevin answered.

"Guys, through here," Barry instructed, walking through the trees to his left. We followed him, trying not to trip on roots and slide in the mud as we went. As trainers, Forrest and I were accustomed to this kind of thing and managed to keep our footing. Kevin and Barry were not as successful.

Eventually, we stumbled upon their headquarters. It was just a huge, rectangular building, virtually impenetrable. The windows were all protected by metal bars and the doors were protected by half a dozen men with guns, as well as half a dozen massive Pokemon.

"You two," Forrest said in a hushed tone to Kevin and Barry. They turned around and nodded at him, non verbally asking him what was up. "You have guns on you, right?" They each pulled out a pistol in response.

"I have five on my team, you're the same, right?" I then asked Forrest, who nodded.

"We have a combined total of seven," Kevin said, gesturing to himself and Barry.

"So, seventeen Pokemon and two guns versus six guns and six Pokemon," I said. "We can take them," I concluded.

"Skyler counts for two Pokemon at least, let's be honest," Forrest joked. The two of us shared a laugh, but Kevin and Barry were oblivious to the joke.

"That's just on the outside," Kevin reminded us. "They likely have more inside," he went on.

"In short, we're not getting in there through brute force or via anything psychic," Barry summed up.

"The hell are we supposed to do then?" Forrest asked, frustrated.

"I've got an idea," I said, more to myself than anyone else. I released Ares and jumped on the massive dragonfly.

"Don't try anything -" Barry started, but I interrupted him.

"Just sprint to the door at the first opportunity," I told the other three. "Ares, roof, fast," I ordered my dragonfly, putting particular emphasis on the last word. In the space of a second, maybe two at a stretch, we were on the roof. "Sonicboom," I instructed, jumping from his back and pressing my hands to my ears. I could hear it anyway, but it wasn't debilitating.

After I took my hands away from my ears, I heard the soldiers and Pokemon at the door making a fuss. The thing about that attack is that it's impossible to tell where the sound came from, so they strayed from the door and started looking about

I unleashed the titan that was Skyler. "Door," I said, gesturing to the presumably locked steel door in front of us. He took a few steps forward and slammed his head into it, breaking it off the hinges and sending it flying down the corridor beyond. "Nice work," I commended him, returning him. I walked towards the entrance, gesturing for Ares to follow me.

In an enclosed space, Ares was my best bet. Skyler was physically too big to fit in the corridors, River was simply too weak, and Naja just wasn't quick enough. Cel would have been appropriate as well, but Ares was just more appropriate.

I heard alarms going off, but no one seemed to be around this particular part of the building. Convenient. I also heard my phone going off.

"You're a reckless fucking idiot. A brilliant one though," came Barry's voice through the phone.

"You guys in?" I asked, getting to the point.

"Yeah. Diamond's on the third floor at the moment, so we'll meet there," he said before hanging up.

I power walked through the corridors, knife in hand, keeping an eye out for people. Ares followed along by crawling on the walls and ceiling around me. I had no idea where I was, and staff were likely making their way towards me. I continued walking anyway, blindly looking for the stairs.

"Kill on sight," I heard a deep voice say from just around the corner. They were here.

"Supersonic," I commanded Ares as they rounded the corner. Five soldiers, all armed with rifles, but no Pokemon. Ares started making that familiar buzzing noise and I clamped my hands over my ears. I could still hear it, but it was muffled and it had no effect on me. The soldiers weren't as lucky.

"Fuck!" One of them cursed as he tripped and fell into a wall. Three of the soldiers dropped their guns and just started falling about, unable to stay upright. Two managed to hold onto their guns and started shooting as they fell to the ground, but they were completely disorientated and fired blindly until they ran out of bullets, not hitting me or Ares.

I stepped over the groaning and confused soldiers and made my way forward. Killing them or knocking them out would have taken far too long: time was short and they wouldn't be recovering particularly soon anyway.

Not long later, I ran into a bunch of scientists. Literally, I actually bumped into the one at the front. Four of them this time, none appeared to be armed. Well, they didn't appear to be at first, but they then each pulled a pistol out of the inside pocket of their lab coats. They had no idea how to use the firearms, however, and promptly started fumbling with them. Idiots.

Without even needing to be told, Ares took them out with another supersonic attack. I had the sense to clamp my hands over my ears. One of the other scientists had the same idea, but the others all started tripping and falling about, confused and disorientated.

"Quick attack," I instructed Ares with a lazy nod towards the one remaining scientist. My dragonfly sped at him so quickly that he just appeared to teleport and struck him in the chest. The unfortunate scientist went tumbling down the corridor and came to a stop by slamming into a wall.

By the time I reached the stairs, that was all the resistance I had been met with. Five soldiers and a band of scientists. Poor.

As I made my way down the stairs, I phoned Barry. "You on the third floor yet?" I asked.

"No, but we've found the stairs. We'll be there in a minute or two. You?" Came his voice through the phone.

"I'm the same actually. See you in a minute then," I responded before hanging up. I rushed down the stairs until I came to a door leading to the rest of the third floor. The other members of my troop came up the stairs a few minutes later. By the looks of it, they had been met with more resistance than I had.

Forrest had a large bruise on his face and Kevin was limping. Barry was covered in blood, although it didn't look to be his own. As for their Pokemon, Aard was walking next to Forrest, fists covered in the blood of his opponents. Kevin and Barry didn't appear at first to have any of their Pokemon out.

I noticed movement on the ceiling, right above Barry. I looked, and saw one of the most bizarre creatures I had ever seen. It was clearly some form of plant, being mainly varying hues of green in coloration. It had a wide, flat, roughly circular head, with two small, beady eyes atop it and a mouth filled with needle like teeth that was about as wide as the head itself. There were two long, prehensile leaves attached to its stem, just below its head, with three finger like projections at the end. Its short stem ended in long, prehensile tentacle like red and green roots. It had been moving so slowly and stealthily that I had actually not noticed it at first.

A beast then phased through the ceiling and floated next to Kevin. It was huge, bigger than me, but still able to fit in the corridors and move about. I recognized it. Tyson had one. It had a round, fat body, huge, muscular arms, no legs and a head that possessed only one red eye. It was a Dusknoir. It didn't look like it was in too great condition. It seemed to be struggling to float, its eye seemed dim, and its arms hung limply by its sides.

"We ready to go?" Barry asked.

"What is that?" I asked, gesturing to the thing on the ceiling above him.

"That's Drose. He's a Carnivine," he explained quickly. "We ready now?"

"Yeah," I replied, leading the way forward with absolutely no idea where I was going. We wandered around, looking for Diamond's office or whatever. We knew it wasn't full proof, seeing as he could escape, but we had no better ideas. If he escaped, we would simply track him down again.

Again, we were met by surprisingly little resistance. A lone soldier attempted to stop us, but Barry's Carnivine - Drose, apparently - snatched him from the ceiling and chewed his head off, along with most of his upper body. It was bloody and loud and gruesome, but extremely quick. I had never seen a Pokemon eating anything so quickly before in my life.

A man dressed in a suit begged us to stop, but Aard caved his face in with a well placed high kick. He was out cold pretty much instantly, with a broken jaw at the very least.

A scientist also tried to stop us, threatening us with a grenade, but Ares attacked him before he had a chance to pull the pin. He flitted past and ripped out most of the unfortunate scientist's throat, leaving his head hanging on by a thread.

Aside from those three, we met no more resistance. We came to a door that had Alexander Diamond's name written on it, as well as his position in the government. I didn't take note of the last part because, quite honestly, I didn't care.

Forrest and Kevin stood at one side of the door, Barry and I at the other. Kevin and Barry loaded their guns, Forrest clenched his fists, preparing for a fight, and I brandished my knife. Forrest counted down on his fingers. Three. Two. One. Barry stepped in front of the door and was about to kick it open, but someone opened it from the inside before he could.

"Hello," I heard that familiar, slick voice say. I stepped out so that I could see in the door. Forrest and Kevin did likewise.

"Fucking hell..." Barry groaned, predicting another problem ahead. Alexander Diamond was standing in the doorway, hands cuffed behind his back, the barrel of a rifle pressed up against the center of his back. The man wielding that rifle was none other than Allan Hawkes, with two of his thugs behind him, although the thugs were armed with rifles as opposed to the usual clubs and blades.

He looked different to the last time I had seen him. He was clean, for a start, and had shaved his head. He had lost the wifebeater and combat pants, opting for camouflage military gear instead. Half of his face was red and leathery. Overall just mangled looking. They were burn scars.

"Third degree burns," Hawkes informed me, noticing my stare. "Forty percent of my skin was burned," he went on calmly. "Thought I'd just take that?" He then practically screamed, suddenly switching from calm to furious. Sure, he had been physically injured, but he was no longer of sound mind either. Before, he was just bad. Evil. Those burns had turned him insane as well.

I knew I had created that.

"Actually, I thought you'd be dead," I replied honestly.

I noticed Forrest casting he a horrified look. Clearly, he had pieced together that I had not only caused those burns, but actually tried to kill him as well. I didn't really care. I had bigger problems that Forrest's overly moral mindset. For instance, the crazed, scarred, rifle wielding killer and ex-soldier that was currently holding a politician at gun point.

"He's behind this whole thing," Alexander told us, looking back over his shoulder at Hawkes. The politician didn't seem fazed in the slightest.

That would explain it. Why we had been met with so little resistance. Why it was so easy to break in. It had all been a trap designed by Hawkes. Although he was clearly crazy, he could still plan with that calculated mind of his.

"So you're still with us?" Forrest asked, hoping that we wouldn't need to kill him.

"My allegiance is to me. Whoever offers me the most, that's who I'll stick with," he replied ambiguously.

Hawkes then smashed the butt of his rifle into the back of Alexander's head, knocking him out. Hawkes and his two men trained their guns on us.


	57. Hello, Good Friend

Shedding Skins

Chapter Fifty Seven

Hello, Good Friend

* * *

We bolted. Barry and I ran one way, Forrest and Kevin ran the other way. Since they were still inside the room and we weren't we had a few seconds to escape. By the time the three gunmen had made it out the door, Barry and I were round the corner, our Pokemon returned.

Hawkes was smart. Out in the open, I could just get my team to utterly destroy whatever he threw at us, but in the confines of the corridors, it was far harder to use five Pokemon at once, and much harder to use a gun. I had chanced it with the soldiers because I had no other choice - they'd have shot me as I ran. This time, however, running was an option. I was not going to risk one of my team getting shot when the odds were so high, and he had guessed as much.

"He'll have more of his guys hiding," Barry pointed out as we ran.

"He's after me, you go ahead," I said to him as we rounded another corner. Being short on time, he didn't argue, just nodded and sprinted ahead. I crouched, clutched my knife in one hand and waited.

I heard someone running. One person, not two. Loud, heavy footsteps. This guy was heavy. This man was Hawkes.

He rounded the corner and spotted my just a moment too late. From my crouched position, I stabbed him in the knee and quickly pulled the blade free. He screamed, dropped his gun and fell, clutching his knee.

The first I did was kick his gun down the corridor. I could have picked it up, but I had no idea how to use one with any great deal of skill, but he could, and I didn't want him to have it. Then, I turned and started sprinting, knowing that even armed with a knife, I wouldn't be guaranteed a win against Hawkes. Even injured, the man was still massive, remarkably strong, experienced and now totally insane.

He snagged my foot as I turned and I fell.

I managed to roll onto my back before he dived at me. He grabbed my wrist and pinned my knife arm to the ground. I started kicking out at his injured knee and hit it a few times. He let out a bellow of pain And clutched his knee with his free hand, his other hand still pinning my knife arm to the floor. I reached up and switched the knife to my left hand before bringing it down on his arm and piercing his bicep, eliciting another bellow of pain and anger. His hand sprung open and released my wrist.

I struggled out from underneath him and started running. He was in too much pain to even try to make a grab for me this time.

I was totally lost. I had no idea where I was, or even the very general direction of the exit. I had got lost running from Hawkes. I now had his men to watch out for, as well as the building's staff. Also, Barry, Kevin and Forrest were nowhere to be seen. Wonderful. This entire mission had went to hell, and it wasn't even necessary anyway - Diamond hadn't even done anything, he had told us the whole thing had been orchestrated by Hawkes.

As I rounded yet another corner, someone grabbed me by the collar and slammed my back against a wall. Barry pulled a fist back for a punch before realizing that I was not a foe.

"He dead?" He asked, referring to Hawkes.

"No, but I managed to stab him twice," I replied.

"He's not going to stop, you know," Barry responded. "He's going to kill you."

"He can try," I said.

"Where are the other two?" I asked, having not seen them anywhere during my travels.

"Hawkes' guys got them." I did not know exactly what Barry meant by that. If he meant that Forrest was no longer breathing, Hawkes wouldn't be for much longer either. I swore to God that if that bastard caused anyone I cared about even remote harm, I would skin him alive. Then I would kill him.

"What does that mean?" I asked him, fearing for the answer.

"Kevin took a bullet to the shoulder for Forrest, then they got captured," Barry replied. I gave a sigh of relief. It was unfortunate that Kevin had been injured, but I didn't really care about him if I was being brutally honest. "I saw it on a security camera," he explained.

"What the hell is that?" I asked him, hearing footsteps. Again, a single man who was incapable of treading quietly. It couldn't have been Hawkes himself - that knife to the knee would be keeping him off his feet for a while.

"Run," Barry said, drawing his pistol. This time, I was the one that didn't argue. I sprinted and rounded another corner before bumping into someone. Well, several people. A ragtag group of scientists, soldiers and suits.

From round the corner, I heard gunshots. Then it dawned on me why Barry wanted me to run: I would simply be a target in a firefight, I would be no help at all seeing as I couldn't use a gun. I decided that as soon as I got back, gunplay would be something I'd have to learn. Knifeplay was all well and good up close, but useless at a distance.

I was grabbed by about half a dozen pairs of hands and forced to the ground. Fair enough, I was a good fighter, but even hoping to win against this many opponents was insanity. In fact, I couldn't even reach for my knife or any of my pokeballs. A few started kicking at me, but most of the others held them back.

While they were distracted by this, I attempted to make my escape, then realized that there was a problem. At some point in the chaos, I had been cuffed. I couldn't push my way through the others and had no chance of escaping, so I did the next best thing and sealed my own fate.

"Barry! Government gu-!" I bellowed down the hall, but was cut off by someone pressing their hand to my mouth. It didn't matter, I had already gotten enough of my warning out.

I didn't know if Barry had gotten shot in that firefight or what - although I was highly doubtful after seeing his fighting prowess. Even if he had gotten out of the firefight uninjured, his chances of escape weren't looking too good.

I didn't get a chance to say anything else before they gagged and blindfolded me.

* * *

I had managed to get a rough idea of what had happened by listening to my captors.

Both Hawkes and the government wanted me. I was more of a bonus for the government, but Hawkes had developed an obsession with finding me and making me suffer. I was his priority.

So, he had somehow convinced a handful of the staff to help him. I'm assuming he threatened them or their families in order to gain their help. They orchestrated the whole thing.

Alexander Diamond's allegiance had always been to trainers. He only complied with Hawkes in regards to certain things in order to save his own life and the lives of his ex-girlfriend and unborn child. The whole mission had been pointless. I decided I was going to kill Shenzi when I got back to Cianwood.

"Get out," One of the soldiers ordered me, pushing me roughly out of the car we had been in. I was cuffed, gagged and blindfolded. Really not much I could do to resist. I felt the barrel of a gun pressed to the middle of my back, urging me forward. "Walk." I did as I was told.

I was pushed roughly through a door and the blindfold was ripped off my head, as was the gag. I recognized the place immediately. I had never before been in the building, but I had seen enough pictures of it. A large, white sterile environment, machines of all kinds everywhere, Pokemon in state of the art glass tanks and things I couldn't even begin to identify. It was the Elm lab.

Professor Elm had died years and years previous, but due to his achievements, his successors kept the name as it is in his honor. Recently, it had officially been named named the Elm Research Institute, and the name was permanent.

There was a dull looking man in a long lab coat standing a few meters from me. The man was incredibly dull, with nothing distinguishing about his appearance. His face was just more normal looking than I would have otherwise thought possible.

Next to him, though, was not an ordinary face. The same age as me, his red-brown hair was shorter than it had been the last time I had seen him, but it was more or less the same style, with his fringe coming over one eye. A confident look about him, and an air of intelligence. The boy had been my best friend most of my life. When I thought about it, he was still my best friend, tied maybe with Forrest after what the two of us had been through together.

I let no emotion show on my face. I totally ignored him. He did likewise, not even so much as looking me.

I assessed my situation. There were several problems. I was handcuffed. I had no weapons, not even my knife - that had been confiscated when I was taken prisoner. My pokeballs had also been taken.

My situation wasn't as bleak as it seemed, however. I had an ally in the building, one that would certainly help me if such a thing was in his power. Even if it wasn't in his power, I knew he'd probably die trying to help me. I would be the same for him. There was also the chance that Barry had escaped. If he had, he could try and break me out.

"Where are the cells?" One of my captors asked the sheepish looking scientist. He pointed vaguely down a hall, as if not quite sure what to do. The soldiers, scientists and suits pushed me along the corridor until we came to heavy, steel door. The pushed me through that and into another room.

There were small cells on both sides, each one with a single bed on the floor and a small toilet. There was a slot for a plate of food to go through. There was nothing else. The walls and floor were stone. The only light came from a single small window in each cell. It was protected by bars, of course, so was not an option for an escape route.

My cuffs were removed and I was shoved roughly into the nearest cell before they slammed the door shut.

"We're disappointed," one of the soldiers said. "We heard a lot about how you basically slaughter everything in your path," he continued.

"I've been in worse situations and still managed to wreak havoc," I informed him. "I'm not done yet."

"Worse than this?" One of the scientists asked, seeming to think I was lying or exaggerating. How little he knew.

"Alone, handcuffed, unarmed, no Pokemon, gun to the back of my head, over a dozen armed armed men wanting to kill me, one of them being Allan Hawkes," I told him. "You noticed how Hawkes has deforming burn scars?" I asked. A look of realization crossed the faces of the men on the other side of the bars. "Yeah, that as me."

"We could shoot you right now, you have no plan," one of the suits pointed out.

"If you were going to just shoot me, you'd have done it already," I countered.

"Whatever. We'll be back shortly," one of the soldiers growled, leading the rest of them away.

I paced the room. I needed a plan. A plan that didn't involve waiting for the other two. An idea occurred to me.

I thought the name of my ex-team member in my head, psychically calling the Gardevoir. Cerletti didn't appear. It didn't surprise me. I had already considered the possibility of dark Pokemon being in the building somewhere. These people were hardly that stupid.

I considered the advantages of having a ghost. Having an Pokemon that could turn intangible at will would have been a huge advantage. Some have certain psychic abilities so I could call them like I could Cerletti. Being ghost type moves, they wouldn't be affected by dark Pokemon. They could go and retrieve the keys and let me out, simple.

I was seriously considering catching a ghost type whenever I got out of my present situation, when I heard a voice talking to me. "You're in a situation and a half," Adam said with a grin on his face.

"So are you, you shouldn't be down here," I grinned back. Despite the magnitude of this situation, we were still delighted to see each other.

"We need to do this quick," he informed me, unlocking the door as quietly as he could.

"Why? They want me alive, so what are they planning to do? Torture me for information?" I guessed. I'm not sure exactly what information I possessed that they wanted, but it was a reasonable guess. They may just decide to torture me in the off chance that I do have some important information or something.

"Worse," Adam replied, opening the door quietly.

"What?" I asked, starting to get worried.

"Planning on torturing and killing your team to get answers out of you," he told me. "I don't know what answers they want," he added.

"Where the hell is my team?" I demanded. If they were so much as looked at wrong, no one except Adam would be leaving this building alive.

"They're busy guarding them, so we can escape," he said, walking down the corridor to what seemed like a dead end.

"I'm not leaving here without my team," I told him.

"We can't get them back," Adam said regretfully.

"Have you got any weapons?" I asked him. He nodded slowly. He reluctantly reached inside the lab coat he was wearing and pulled out a pistol. He handed it to me by the barrel before retrieving another one from inside his jacket for himself.

"Your mind's made up, isn't it?" He asked, a wry smile working its way onto his face.

"Totally," I confirmed. I turned around and started walking towards the door leading to the corridor. I didn't ask Adam to come with me, but I knew he would anyway.

I stood at one side of the door and waited. Adam stood at the other side. We waited for about ten minutes before someone finally came in. I didn't even take the time to look at who it was, I just swung the pistol into their face as hard as I could. They fell and had to lean onto the door frame for support. I swung the pistol into their face twice more and they fell to their hands and knees, bleeding from several cuts on their face.

I took the time to actually look at the person now. He was one of the suits. Perfect. They were the most important out of my captors. Soldiers were expendable. Scientists weren't, but they weren't irreplaceable. The suits, on the other hand, were. He was in his thirties, wearing a navy suit and had long-ish, blonde hair. He was reasonably good looking, minus the injuries I had just caused him.

I got behind him, grabbed him by the hair with one hand and put the pistol to the side of his head with my other. I knew there was no way I could hit a target from a distance with a gun, but simply pulling the trigger when the gun was at his temple would be simple enough and didn't require any aim or skill. It just required steady nerves. That was easily doable.

"Get up," I ordered the suit. He pushed himself to his feet, the threat of being shot being his motivation. I held him in front of me and pushed him forward. He walked down the next corridor until we reached the door. I gestured for Adam to open it and he did so.

My captor's and the scientist in charge of the facility were all sitting at a table, their guns propped up against the nearest wall. Brilliant, they were unarmed.

"Hello!" I called out with false happiness. I liked to torment people.

"Dammit!" One of the soldiers roared. Moving to get up.

"Stay!" I barked. "If you move, I blow his brains out," I told them. "Now where's my team?" I demanded.

"So you can totally destroy the whole facility?" One of the suits asked. "I don't think so."

"I will shoot this man right now," I warned, grip on the pistol tightening. I would not hesitate to kill him, not when the welfare of my team was at stake.

"Ask me if I care," the politician replied callously.

Shit. There went my plan. Well, so I though. That was until a window smashed and someone came flying through it.

Barry landed on the ground below and rolled awkwardly due to the weapons strapped to his back, glass raining down on him. He landed in a crouch and pointed a machine pistol, which was held in his right hand, at my captors. In his left was a grenade. He was armed with a multitude of other weapons, including a large rifle strapped to his back and a combat knife strapped to his belt.

"My team," I repeated. I looked over at the group. The suit that had been speaking earlier was bleeding from a large gash on his neck. He stood for a few seconds and then fell into the table with a crash, revealing a small, black, bipedal carnivoran. It had large, red, feather like growths on its lower back and on one ear, as well as yellow markings on its face and chest. Its most notable feature, however, was the pair of large, retractable claws on its hands.

Those claws, as well as being covered in the suit's blood, were carrying five pokeballs.

"We'll be leaving now," Adam announced.


	58. The Worst In Me

Shedding Skins

Chapter Fifty Eight

The Worst In Me

* * *

After leaving the building and having Cerletti teleport Adam back to Cianwood, Barry and I were standing under a bus shelter, hiding from the rain. There was no one around, so we didn't have to worry about being overheard or seen with a small fortune worth of weapons strapped to Barry.

"He'll be keeping Kevin and Forrest alive," Barry said, somewhat suddenly.

"How do you figure that?" I asked.

"I'm thinking Forrest is to lure you in. Kevin's just a bonus," he explained.

"Probably right, and I'm prepared to walk into a trap, but where are they?" I asked.

"Hell if I know," he shrugged.

"What's the deal with you and Kevin?" I asked him, somewhat suddenly. "You're like soldiers or something, you had something against Hank Vernon, you've got some connection to Damian...What's the deal?" I asked again.

"Damian and Kevin are my two best friends. They're like family, we owe our lives to each other," he told me. "We were in a bad situation once...It brought us together and we ended up joining a mercenary troop," he went on. I got the sense that he didn't want to speak any more about it. "Anyway, you can consider yourself an honorary member of the Bastard Brigade," he chuckled.

"The Bastard Brigade?" I asked, confused.

"The mercenary troop we joined. That's what it's called," he elaborated.

"I'm a trainer, not a soldier," I said.

"You're not just a trainer. At the first sign of trouble, you go for that knife of yours, not your pokeballs. That's a telltale sign. You're a fighter," he told me.

"Dammit, I left my knife," I complained, just realizing. They had taken it off me when I was captured, and I had forgotten to take it back. Sure, I had a pistol now, but I wasn't able to use it with any great deal of skill, and I preferred my knife anyway.

"Here," Barry said, handing me his combat knife. "I never use it anyway. Up close, I'd never have enough time to draw it, and I never think to draw it anyway," he told me.

I took it from him and looked it over. It was vastly different from my old knife, which had been designed for the outdoors. This knife was made exclusively for combat. It had a long, narrow blade that ended in an extremely sharp spear point. It had a wide, oval cross guard and a slender, vase shaped handle with a knurled pattern grip. My old knife had been a slightly larger, single edged, clip point knife designed to be more of a durable outdoor tool than a deadly combat weapon.

"Thanks," I said sincerely. I really appreciated the gift and figured it would probably save my life at some time in the future. Well, probably near future.

Barry opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by his phone ringing. I then realized that I had left my phone with my former captors as well. Dammit.

"Hello," he said, putting the phone to his ear. I could hear the voice at the other end from where I was sitting. I couldn't make out individual words, but it was loud. "Hey, hey!" He said, raising his voice, seemingly trying to get someone to calm down. "Whoa...Look, Shenzi -" He started but was cut off by more screaming from the phone. "Fuck up," he groaned, holding the phone away from him. I got the feeling he was going to hang up, so I held my hand out, non verbally requesting the phone. He exhaled deeply and handed the phone to me.

"Nice work. Blundering in there and not even getting the job done. Nice," Shenzi practically hissed from the other side of the phone, voice full of venom.

"He hadn't even done anything. Whoever told you he had is talking bullshit," I spat, my voice equally venomous.

"Get back here, now," she ordered. I had a feeling she was going to hang up, but I spoke before she had a chance to do so.

"Fuck no," I replied.

"What?" She demanded, outraged.

"Hawkes has Forrest and Kevin," I told her. "I'm going after them."

"It's a trap, you idiot!" She screamed.

"Really?" I asked her slowly, dragging the word out, sarcastic. "We worked that out already, genius, but I'm taking my chances anyway," I explained, voice full of disgust.

"I won't let you," she said, voice low, dangerous.

"How exactly are you going to stop me?" I asked, part of me genuinely curious. I was met with a lengthy pause in response.

"If you do this, don't bother coming back here," she finished before hanging up. I was about to hand the phone back to Barry, but it started ringing again.

"Can I?" I asked, holding up the phone.

"Go ahead," he replied, not seeming to particularly. I answered.

"I'm sorry," came the voice on the other end of the phone.

"Billy?" I asked, unsure.

""Yeah," he confirmed quickly before continuing. "We were in a meeting and this kid came running in, saying this Hazel girl had disappeared." I think my heart nearly stopped. "That made me think that Jean might be in danger, so I tried to leave, but Shenzi had one of her psychics hold me back for the next fifteen minutes while she argued with Reece. Reece's Cacturne comes out and rips her Gothitelle to shreds - I think it actually died - and I'm finally able to go. By the time I get there, Hawkes guys are already there and I get knocked out before I can do anything...I'm sorry," he said again, sighing.

Hawkes had Forrest, Hazel and Jean. Wonderful.

"Stop apologizing, you tried," I responded down the phone. I wasn't angry at Billy - after all, he had tried and he had also put his life in danger - but I was sure as hell angry at Shenzi. When I got back to Cianwood...Well, shit would go down. And I was going to return to Cianwood, regardless of how Shenzi felt about it.

"But I fucked up..." He moaned. It sounded like he was crying.

"Do you know about Damian and Marnie?" I asked.

"Damian got attacked but he crippled the guys with barely a scratch on him. There was this girl with glasses with him, is that Marnie?" He asked. He would know Damian, seeing as he was a subordinate, but Marnie would just be another trainer to him.

"Probably," I replied. Marnie and Damian were fine, but he now had Hazel and Jean as well as Forrest and Kevin. Wonderful.

"Where are you? I want to help with whatever you're doing," he said, a definite change in his tone. He sounded resolute, like nothing would change his mind.

"I don't know, some bus stop in New Bark," I replied. "I'll contact you when I know where we're going and you can meet us there," I went on, hanging up before he had a chance to argue and then handing the phone back to Barry.

"Hawkes is clearly trying to lure you somewhere," he said, thinking. "He'll want you to know where he is, otherwise it's pointless," he went on.

"Somewhere important to him? Or to me?" I suggested.

"Where did you give him those burns?" Barry asked, thinking that as a possible option.

"In a warehouse. I burned it down and he was stuck inside, so not there, seeing as it's not there anymore," I responded. "I first fought his guys at the Azalea Pokemon Center, but I didn't meet him until after," I pointed out. "There maybe?"

"We might as well give it a try," he replied.

* * *

"What's the plan?" Billy asked, approaching Barry and I. We were standing outside the dilapidated Pokemon Center in Azalea hoping the Hawkes was inside with his hostages.

"I stay out here and burst in when a fight breaks out," Barry replied. "That's about all I'm good for."

"You go through the back and ambush any of his guys that you can," I said to Billy.

"What are you going to do?" He asked.

"Go straight through this main entrance here and walk right into the line of fire, which also distracts them and provides you with a chance to strike, as an added bonus," I replied. "Now, go." Billy did as he was told and jogged round to the back of the building. I waited a minute or two, giving him time to get into position.

I didn't even bother to take a deep breath or whatever before walking in. Instead, my anger got the better of me and I stormed through the double doors, raging.

Tied up, sitting down, backs against the front desk were Kevin, Forrest, Hazel and Jean. Kevin looked totally relaxed, to be perfectly honest. He seemed to be used to situations like this. Forrest was looking scared, but also angry. He was bleeding from his nose and had a large bruise on his face. Jean looked like she was having a breakdown. She was shaking and crying and just a total mess. Hazel just looked terrified, and that's what angered me the most. I couldn't tell if she was in tears or not.

Four of his men were standing there, with rifles pointed to them, each thug aiming at someone different. They were dressed in military gear, identical to that of Hawkes, but they wore the mask as well.

Hawkes approached me in greeting, wearing a vicious smile. I assumed his injuries were bandaged up underneath his clothing, although I noticed he was limping from being stabbed in the knee. I was surprised he was even walking at all. He either had very good medics, or was walking anyway, regardless of the immense pain he must have been in. I personally bet the latter.

He walked right up to me, too bold for his own good. "Look, it's all your favorite people in one room!" He exclaimed, grinning broadly, mocking.

"You prick," I growled. "Think about every time you or your men have ever went up against me," I continued on, voice low, dangerous. "It ends in death, maiming, and generally not nice things for you and your guys, so do the smart thing and give up, you stubborn bastard!" I shouted, temper really getting the better of me.

He took a few steps closer to me, and I noticed that two of his fingers were swollen and bruised. They looked broken. He took another step closer, his face inches from mine. "I've got the upper hand now," he hissed, a twisted smile playing over his burned face. "Make a move," he dared me. So, I did. With just a quick movement of my right hand, I was back in control.

"Done," I smiled. He looked down at his left forearm. There was a syringe stabbed into it, my thumb on the plunger, ready to fill his veins with the contents inside. "Even a slight movement, and I inject," I warned him.

"What the hell is that?" He asked, breathing a little quicker. He was scared. Scared for his life.

"Arbok venom," I told him. That had been courtesy of Naja. The syringe was for administering emergency medicine to myself or my Pokemon, but this suited my situation more. "I don't even need to find a vein, so much as one drop of this gets into you, you won't be able to do much more than drool for the rest of your life, and that's if you're lucky," I informed him.

"Shoot!" Hawkes screamed to his men. Clearly, he was so far gone that it would be worth dying if it meant he could get at me. He was totally gone.

"No!" I screamed. Simply out of reflex, I pushed the plunger on the syringe and emptied Naja's venom into Hawkes' arm. He let out a scream and fell away from me, but I was more concerned with the welfare of my friends to really pay any attention to it.

I looked over at the gunmen to find that two of them were unconscious, Billy standing over them, a large Pokemon floating beside him. It was was just a mass of green gel, with a large brain inside it and two eyeballs floating in the gel, just in front of the brain. Nerves ran from the brain down the thick, strong gelatinous arms to the tips of its three fingers. I recognized it as a Reuniclus, a Pokemon native to Unova, if I wasn't mistaken.

One of the remaining gunmen was on the floor, Forrest and Kevin stomping all over him. Their hands were still tied behind their back, but the pair had been able to take him anyway.

The final gunman had been aiming at Jean, but switched his attention to Billy. He fired off a shot that struck Billy in the shoulder and sent him to the ground with a scream. His Reuniclus didn't look happy. Its eyes started glowing a bright crimson, it floated over to the gunman before he could do anything, and thrust its three fingers through his forehead. His eyes went white, he screamed for a few seconds and dropped dead.

I thought we had won, but I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. I drew the combat knife that Barry had given me earlier and released Cel.

At the same time, I heard gunshots from outside. Not just a few, but rapid, automatic fire, as well as a few explosions. Barry, no doubt.

More of Hawkes men came down the stairs, at least a dozen of them, all drawing pistols from their pockets. They were wearing combat pants and hoodies rather than military gear, and they weren't armed to the teeth like Hawkes' other men. These seemed like pawns. They were weak, expendable and numerous.

"Cel," I said, gesturing lazily to the stairs. She was smart enough to work out what I meant. She belched a stream of scorching fire at the stairs, setting some of the men themselves on fire, but also succeeding in her primary goal of setting the staircase aflame. A few of them managed to fire off shots, but none of them injured anyone. There were only a few fired before the sounds of the collapsing staircase and their dying screams drowned out all the other noise for a while, even the noise of Barry battling outside.

Eventually, it died down. Barry barged in through the front doors, covered in blood. Some of it must have been his, but I guessed the majority of it wasn't. He sprayed bullets into the wreckage of the stairs, putting the last few out of their misery for good.

We had won.

I sprinted over to Hazel and cut the rope binding her hands. She threw herself at me and clung to me, breathing deeply, crying, still scared after their ordeal. I hugged her back, holding her tight, also breathing heavily, near enough in tears myself. I had been scared for her life. So had she. We just sat there on the floor together for a while, holding each other.

Barry was undoing Kevin and Forrest's bonds. Billy was lying on the ground, bleeding, his Reuniclus trying to heal him. Jean, I noticed, was looking at Hazel and I with an odd expression on her face. I couldn't quite place what the emotion was.

I heard a groan from near the doors. All thought of everything went out my head. All emotions except anger deserted me.

"I have to do something," I whispered to Hazel, and pulled away from her. She gave me a look that quite clearly said she didn't want me to leave, but I had to do so anyway.

I got up, but by the time I did so, Hawkes was up as well. I started sprinting, and he did likewise, getting out the door just as Barry took a shot at him.

"Linus!" I heard more than one person scream, but I didn't care. Hawkes was going to die. I was going to make sure of it.

I barged out the doors and caught sight of Hawkes running awkwardly due to his injured leg. Usually, a man in that kind of shape would have outrun me easily, but said injury slowed him down considerably. It would be possible to catch him if I ran my fastest.

He sprinted down an alleyway and I followed him. I was aware of people looking out their windows, scared, thinking the gunfire was some form of attack. I didn't care who saw me, I was going to murder that man. Naja's venom would probably kill him anyway, but I wanted to make sure for definite that the bastard was no longer breathing. I didn't want him coming barging back into my life to ruin it later on.

I was slowly closing in on him, chasing him through the labyrinthine back alleys of Azalea Town. I rounded a corner and was met with a fist to the ribs. Even without a weapon, injured and with venom in him, he was still willing to fight. I had to admire the sheer willpower of the ex-soldier. Most people would just curl up and cry, but not Allan Hawkes. No way.

I retaliated with a wild swipe of my knife. He took a step back to dodge the blade, then reached for my wrist, possibly trying to disarm me. I pulled my arm back out the way and stabbed wildly at him. It stuck in his shoulder, he screamed and batted at my wrist. I let go of the knife, which was still buried in his shoulder, and he went for me.

Ordinarily, I'd have been crushed in seconds, but he was badly injured, with multiple stab wounds and venom coursing through his body. I was angry. I was far more dangerous when I was angry.

He threw a wild hay maker, seeming to forget whatever military training he had ever received. I wasn't thinking enough to try and duck, but it missed anyway, just through his being clumsy and injured. I reached for his face with both hands. If I could get my hands on an ear or something, the fight would be mine.

In retaliation, he reached for my throat and started squeezing, choking the air out of my lungs. I continued to explore his face with my hands, trying to find some way to harm him. Eventually, when I was half choking to death, my thumb found his eye and I pushed. I was by no means an expert, and didn't gouge his eye out so much as I just squished it into oblivion. He started screaming and threw me away.

I hit my head on the ground when I fell, but I could still see him holding onto his face, blood pouring from where his eye used to be. He pulled the knife free from his shoulder and threw it on the ground. He started running, stumbling most of the time, moaning in pain and clutching his empty eye socket. I tried to get up, but everything seemed dizzy for a few seconds. Eventually, I pushed myself to my feet, retrieved my knife and gave chase.

I managed to keep my eye on him for a while, but eventually he disappeared. I simply couldn't keep my eye on him, and couldn't track him after I lost him. I fell to my knees in the middle of a random alley and screamed into the night. It was an angry, hopeless scream.


	59. Here's To Us

Shedding Skins

Chapter Fifty Nine

Here's To Us

* * *

Shenzi, Reece, Tyson and Zach were present at our usual meeting place. They were sitting at a table in the middle of the room, all looking exhausted. There wasn't a particularly official atmosphere, it just seemed more like a room full of pissed off teenagers. Well, in essence, that's what it was. Jan and Leon were elsewhere.

After spending a while in the Center's hospital, Billy had been called on, and he had insisted on going. Barry, Kevin, Forrest and I had also been called on, predictably. Damian was also present, although I'm not sure what his purpose was.

"You failed to carry out the mission, and opted to spare Diamond's life simply because you disagreed with me," Shenzi accused, as though trying to make us feel disappointed in ourselves.

"Wait a second," I said, holding up a hand and rummaging through my pockets.

"Is there a problem, Linus?" Shenzi asked, annoyed at me for interrupting her.

"There is actually," I said seriously. "You see, I was just looking, and I can't find any fucks to give," I went on. Barry, Kevin, Damian and Forrest had to stifle their laughs, and Tyson had to suppress a smile. Billy didn't look impressed, but that was probably because he had been shot. Then again, so had Kevin and he was still laughing. Reece and Zach didn't find it funny, but nor did it seem to bother them. Shenzi looked totally outraged.

"This is serious!" She screeched, standing up. Had the rest of us not already been standing, I would have got out of my chair also.

"What's serious is that you were willing to leave four teenagers with that psychopath, you asked four teenagers to murder an innocent man, you're trying to take control of everyone and that you used a Pokemon to physically hold a child back," I said in a flat voice. Not like I was making things up, I was simply recounting the things she had done. She winced at that last one, reminded of her psychic that had been torn apart by Reece's legendary, alcoholic Cacturne.

"Don't you dare question me, I am an Elite Four member," she raged, walking round the side of the table, hand going for her pokeballs. Before she could so much as touch them, however, she had four pistols pointed at her. Damian, Barry, Kevin and I had all drawn our guns and aimed them at her. I was still using the pistol that Adam had given me. I knew I couldn't hit Shenzi from this distance, but she didn't know that.

"Sit down," Reece groaned, sneering at Shenzi. "Don't get all high and mighty, those four want to put one in your head, and they're crazy enough to do it as well," he went on. "Especially when you're trying to act like you can do no wrong. Sit down and shut up," he finished, standing up himself and running a hand through his long hair.

"We'll shoot you as well," Kevin warned him, turning his gun to the Gym Leader instead. Barry did likewise. Damian and I put our guns away, however. I trusted Reece, and evidently, Damian did too.

"I'm not about to chastise you, I'm not like her," he said, jerking his head at Shenzi.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She demanded.

"As I think we've established, you're quite simply a bad leader," he replied bluntly.

"Don't argue, we all agree," Zach chipped in, aiming his comment at the now furious Shenzi.

"You four showed a great deal of recklessly stupid bravery," Reece told us. I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not. "I don't know if that's a good or bad thing," he went one, echoing my thought. "We messed up, sent you into a life or death situation for nothing and allowed Hawkes' guys into Cianwood, resulting in the kidnapping of two innocents. We can't blame you for getting caught during your mission. You did your best, and you hardly got caught on purpose. Barry, Billy, Linus, your rescue attempt was iffy at best. I'm not sure if you succeeded through luck or the sheer levels of crazy you possess, but still, well done," he spoke, sounding sincere, talking to us like equals. He lacked the condescending tone that Shenzi used when speaking to anyone beneath her - and even those of the same rank.

"I vote Reece as leader," Tyson shouted out, abruptly changing the subject. "Just saying what everyone else is thinking," he added.

"We've been through this, multiple leaders would help prevent any form of tyranny," Shenzi pointed out angrily. She just seemed annoyed at everything.

"Didn't stop you from trying to dictate everyone's actions," Damian pointed out.

"You can shut up, you and Billy disobeyed direct orders," she hissed. I noticed that she didn't mention my own or Barry's disobedience.

"Yeah, and it resulted in the rescue being a success," Damian countered. "I vote Reece as leader as well," he added.

"I vote we don't totally mess up the hierarchy!" Shenzi shouted, frustrated, annoyed, angry and sulky. She was acting like a five year old because she wasn't getting her own way. In all honesty, I would have expected far more of an Elite Four member.

"I vote we slap Shenzi the next time she says something stupid," I threw in. Not that I was acting particularly mature either, but less was expected of me, so I was allowed.

"Agreed!" Billy called out, who, up until this point, had been silent.

"Hey, leader," Shenzi called sarcastically to Reece. "Are you going to let them speak to their superior like that?" She was seemingly testing his authority over us. I would have gained a great deal of pleasure from slapping the girl.

"In all fairness, they just put their lives on the line because you said so, and their friends' lives were at risk because of our incompetence as well," Reece replied. "They have a right to be pissed off with us, you in particular," he continued.

"My rank -" She started, but she was interrupted by a loud groan from Zach.

"This isn't the bloody army," he said to her. "Stop pulling rank, you've got about as much experience as the rest of us when it comes to this kind of thing" he went on, seemingly tired of the Elite Four member's superiority.

"Right," Barry said to the rest of the room. "Assuming everyone else agrees - which they will, let's face it - Reece is leader. Shenzi retains a high rank, but no one's really going to care what she says anyway after this. Billy probably gets promoted for this. We went crazy and you guys screwed up royally," he summed up. "Anything else? 'Cause I want to wash the blood out of my hair," he finished.

"Your hair's red, you can't even see the blood," I pointed out. "On the other hand, I look like I've had my hair badly dyed," I went on.

"I just got shot, stop complaining about your hair," Billy laughed, trumping us all.

"I got shot as well," Kevin pointed out, seemingly matching with Billy.

"I got shot and no one tried to help me. Just saying, guys, thanks for that," he said jokingly, giving us a small wave, causing us all to laugh.

"Feel free to go now," Reece said with a wave of his hand, dismissing us.

* * *

We all went our separate ways when we left. All back to our own houses, apart from Billy and Kevin, who stayed at the Center's hospital for their injuries to be double checked.

I could have went home and got washed first, but I didn't care about that. What I cared about was a man named Allan Hawkes. Naja's venom should have paralyzed him for life if he was lucky, simply killed him outright if he wasn't. Despite this, the man had survived more punishment than I though the human body could endure in the past, what was to stop him from doing it again?

I wanted to kill the man. This wasn't just me being willing to kill someone, which I had steadily gotten used to, this was me actively wanting someone to die. If he performed another miracle and miraculously survived, he would come after me. No, scratch that, he would come after the people I cared about. If he hurt any of them...God help him, that's all I'm saying.

I reached a junction. I could have walked towards my home, but I started walking towards Cianwood main street instead. I wanted to just go for a walk in the night. I thought it would be relaxing.

I took a shortcut through an alleyway, even though I should have known better. Muggers didn't scare me. I'd put a knife in them with little provocation, and my team would do worse to them, but there was one criminal in particular that could hold their own against me. I just happened to run into them.

"Nice night, don't you think?" Connie asked from the shadows. I whipped round to face her, drawing my knife with my right hand.

"What the hell do you want?" I asked, breathing heavily. Connie Quinn. This girl was bad news. Not only was she wanted, but she was probably armed, basically fearless, and was one of the only people who knew how to truly get under my skin.

"I just want to talk," she said innocently.

"I don't want to murder any more people today, but that doesn't mean I won't," I warned her.

"A threat from Linus Ferrie? I should watch out," she said, only half joking.

"Why do you keep showing up? Really, why? Do you just love driving me crazy?" I asked, exhausted, angry and other emotions I couldn't even recognize at the time.

"Oh, the Boy With the Knife is upset. Poor you," she cackled. So that's what they were calling me now? "You see, I used to think that you were just an angry little boy. A toddler that would throw a tantrum when he didn't get what he wanted. But now? I'm seeing more. I'm seeing someone who just loves to fight and destroy things, and who uses excuses to justify it," she spoke. The thing that bothered me was that she was at least partially right.

"Why are you doing this? The last time I saw you, you regretted having to sell me out. Where's this hate coming from?" I moaned, running my free hand through my blood encrusted hair.

"Well, I'm sure you and the other three murdered too many people to recall in the past twenty four hours, but one of those was my uncle," she explained. "A soldier, in case you care," she added.

"I'm sorry," I lied.

"That's a lie," she accused.

"Well of course it's a fucking lie, they were all trying to either kill me, kidnap me or torture my team for information," I responded. "Do you really expect any sympathy?"

"Oh, you are something else, boy," she sneered, seemingly disgusted.

"So, what, you feel sorry for the people you've killed? All of them?" I asked. I recalled that she had said she was a killer at the warehouse, while she had me at gun point.

"I feel bad for doing it. Not bad enough to stop me, but a little at the very least," she explained. I recognized the feeling that she was describing. "But you, you've killed multiple people in the past twenty four hours and you don't seem to give a fuck," she spat.

"Sorry, I'm not a known giver of fucks," I replied.

"Stop being smart, you know what I'm saying is true," she sneered. I did know it. I knew she was speaking the truth. "You like causing chaos. You like a chance to flex your muscles. I think there's even a part of you that likes ending lives," she went on, relishing every second of my torment. "Really, what makes you any different from Allan Hawkes?" She whispered. As she was talking, she had been steadily moving closer. I had been too focused on her words to notice until her face was just inches from mine.

"The fact that I'm not deformed," I growled, referring to Hawkes' half burned face. The underlying threat in my voice was unmistakable. Despite my threatening words, her own barbed comments had bothered me. More than bothered, actually upset me.

"I think I'm going to go before you gut me," she laughed, sensing that she was pushing me to my limits. "I know you're angry at me, but I also know I've succeeded in upsetting you, so goodbye for now, knifeboy," she smiled, knowing exactly how I was feeling and exactly how her words had affected me.

As a final parting gift, she leaned in and kissed me, too quickly for me to do anything about it. Before I even had a chance to say anything, she had disappeared into the night once again.

* * *

"This," I said to the store clerk, putting the required amount of money on the desk.

"I'm not selling you that, you're too young," he pointed out. He was a dull, scrawny, unimportant and boring man. I couldn't have given less of a shit what he had to say.

"Yes you are," I told him, sliding the money further towards him, prompting him to take it. It was a bottle of cider. It was cheap, a kind I'd had before. I could have afforded something more expensive and better tasting, but the familiar taste would settle me, despite it tasting bitter and disgusting. Also, it was stronger than most other ciders, and I wanted to get absolutely out my face.

"You're too young," he repeated, placing his palms on the counter and leaning over. A vain attempt at intimidation. Idiot. With speed greater than what I had thought I was capable of, I drew my knife - the one Barry had given me - and raised it before stabbing down towards the clerk's hand. He flinched and shut his eyes tight, then realized that I had stabbed the knife into the counter, in the space between his ring and middle fingers.

"It'll be a finger next time," I snarled, yanking the knife out of the counter. He fearfully pushed the two liter bottle over to me and put the money in the cash register. I took it without a word and started back towards my house, not caring if anyone saw me with alcohol. I was pissed off enough to do something incredibly stupid if anyone else got on the wrong side of me.

I made it back to my house and noticed my reflection in my living room window. I was covered in blood, sweat, dirt and tears - I'm not even sure at which point I had been crying. My face was contorted into an expression that went beyond simple anger. My eyes had dark rings underneath them, I was in desperate need of a wash, I was in a terrible frame of mind and I just looked overall demonic. I had never seen anyone that looked quite like me at that moment. I looked furious, vengeful, hopeless and distraught all at the same time.

I ignored it and took a mouthful of the cider. It tasted like hobo piss, but I suffered it and swallowed anyway. I had only ever been drunk a few times in my life, and I don't remember very much about those nights. I wasn't good with alcohol. In the past I had just made myself look like an idiot, not remembered it and woke up feeling terrible. I was only getting drunk to get an escape from the way that Connie had made me feel.

I could have went to spend time with Hazel. I could have shared a social drink with Forrest. I could have thanked Barry for his help. I could have caught up with Adam. I could have done anything else, something productive, something useful, something that would benefit other people, but instead I chose to drown my sorrows in alcohol, alone in my cramped, gloomy living room. Selfish idiot that I was.

Just over half an hour later, I heard a knocking on my door. I couldn't be bothered getting up, so I simply roared at them to come in. Seconds later, Billy walked in, looking about as bad as I did. No, wait, worse. He couldn't stand up straight, had to use the wall for support. Arm was in a cast. He looked worse than just sad. He looked totally depressed.

"I...I had vodka before I went out," he told me, slurring, looking like he was about to cry. "Am I drunk?" He asked with a giggle.

"Yeah," I replied, taking another mouthful of my cider and resisting the urge to vomit it all back up. I had finished most of it and was beyond drunk myself. An older person would have been able to handle it, but I was fourteen and hadn't drank a whole lot in my life. I was a lightweight, basically.

"I've never killed a guy before," Billy told me suddenly. "I don't care, but I killed someone for her," he went on. "Well, Brain killed them, but I made him do it. Let's face it, I killed them," he continued.

"For who? What are you talking about?" I asked, getting curious now.

"I saved her life and killed and got shot for her!" He shouted suddenly. "She didn't thank me. She didn't even care if I was alive, she just left me bleeding on the ground and stared at you instead," he practically spat. I got the impression that the hate was aimed at 'her' and not me. That's when I realized who he was talking about. He had saved Jean's life, she hadn't helped him, but had given Hazel and I a strange stare while he was injured.

"I think...I think I love her," he confided in me. I knew he was talking bullshit. Just over emotional because he was drunk, would probably remember it in the morning and regret saying such a drastic thing. Hardly love, more like a crush on the girl. Still, being ignored like that in favor of me after what he did must have been upsetting, I couldn't deny him that.

Wait, why in favor of me? I had guessed that the girl had a sort of hero worship towards me, seeing as I had saved her life from Hawkes' guys, but she was also crushing on me? Wonderful. Jean was crushing on me, Connie had decided to kiss me and I hadn't even made any effort to see Hazel. I felt terrible, but not bad enough to go and see her. Instead, I opted to sit there with Billy for the rest of the night in a drunken daze, talking about feelings and emotions.

"Here's to us," I slurred, taking another mouthful of my alcohol. Pair of idiots that we were.


	60. Whose Life Is It Anyway?

Shedding Skins

Chapter Sixty

Whose Life Is It Anyway?

* * *

The next morning, I felt about as alive as a corpse.

Adam came in and dragged me up off the floor, where I had been sleeping face down in a small puddle of my own drool and vomit. After nearly throwing up himself at my smell, he ordered me in for a shower while he cleaned up the room. Washing the blood, sweat, dirt, grime, vomit and alcohol from me had been refreshing. I had forgotten what it was like to not smell of death.

"What even was last night?" Adam asked when I emerged from the shower.

"From my perspective, extremely hazy," I mumbled. I was hungover, my body had been put under an enormous amount of stress recently and my head was all over the place. I felt half dead.

"There was vomit on your ceiling," he informed me, not impressed. "What the hell were you doing? Throwing puke?"

"I seriously hope not, but I wouldn't it past me. I was paralytic last night," I replied, sitting down on the couch.

"You're an idiot," he told me, sitting down on the kitchen counter.

"I feel like death," I groaned.

"No wonder. Last night was basically a big ballshot to your liver," he responded, not giving me an ounce of sympathy. Not like I deserved any, it was my fault.

"Hang on, why are you here?" I asked, the question just occurring to me.

"To prevent you from choking on your own vomit," he replied dryly.

"No, I mean, you were working at the Elm Lab before and that," I elaborated.

"But then my best friend was next in line for execution," he replied. "That's more important than a job," he added.

"You were pretty much born for that job, sorry you lost it," I said, genuinely saddened. He had dreamed of little else for as long as I could remember.

"Your side's in desperate need of researchers anyway," he pointed out. "That majority of them stuck with the government."

"I suppose," I conceded.

* * *

The next morning, I woke up next to Hazel. The previous day, I had mostly just caught up with Adam and recovered from everything that had happened recently - especially my monstrous hangover. Late that night, after I had recovered, I had decided to go and see Hazel. We went to sleep soon after, and that brings us to the present.

We were just lying together in her bed, my right arm around her shoulders, my left arm lying across her chest. Her left hand lay on top mine while her right hand lay on my chest. Although we were both awake, we hadn't yet moved. We were just relaxing, enjoying the moment.

"Did you catch him?" She asked suddenly. Well then. Moment ruined.

"Hawkes?" I asked, even though I knew perfectly well that he was who she was referring to.

"Yeah," she answered, nodding.

"Yeah, but he got away again," I told her. A look of worry crossed her face.

"So he's still alive?" She asked, seeming to get scared. I guessed that she had assumed I had caught and killed the bastard. I had sure as hell tried.

"The venom I put in him should have killed him. If not, he'll be paralyzed for life anyway," I told her, trying to calm her. It should have occurred to me that the thought of Hawkes still being out there would scare her shitless. After all, he had decided to kidnap her and had tried to kill her.

"Why does he want to kill you so bad anyway?" She asked. That's about the time I realized that she knew very little about me. Before, I had just thought about how little I knew of her. I hadn't really realized it went both ways.

"Because I broke his legs and left him in a burning building," I replied bluntly. A shocked look came over her face. Understandable.

"Why?" She asked, seemingly horrified. Again, understandable.

"He kidnapped the sister of someone who I thought was my friend, blackmailed them, got them to bring me to him, then tried to kill me," I explained. "It was in the papers," I added. "Remember that warehouse that burned down in Mahogany? Yeah, that's the fire I left him in," I finished. A look of realization crossed her face as she remembered said fire.

"And I'm guessing the government aren't happy with you after that mission?" I nodded, confirming her guess.

"And Shenzi hates my guts," I added with a chuckle. "Plus that criminal, Connie Quinn, she despises me as well," I went on.

"How can you be so calm about this?" She asked, seeming to genuinely wonder. "So many people seem to have it in for you and you're not even scared," she went on.

"Because here, I'm safe from everyone. The Government aren't here, neither is Hawkes. Shenzi can't just murder me 'cause she feels like it, she's get lynched. Connie's not a threat, I'm a match for her," I explained. That last one, however, was debatable. She had gotten the better of me more than once, knew how to get under my skin better than most and could really handle herself. Still, I didn't dwell on it. "Also, I just try not to think about these things," I added.

"You're something else," she told me with a chuckle.

"So are you," I replied, kissing her. Just as we started kissing, we were interrupted by my phone ringing. I was seriously tempted to just ignore it and give the girl next to me my full attention, which is probably what I should have done, but I figured it might be something important, so decided to answer it. It was not a number I recognized.

"Really sorry, I'll just be a second," I told Hazel, answering.

"Linus," came a girl's voice from the phone. Scarlett. I hadn't heard from her in a while. I had barely seen or heard of her since this whole civil war thing started.

"Unless there's a full on siege, I probably don't care," I warned her.

"Nice to see you too," she replied dryly. "Get to Tyson's house, now," she said. It took all of my self control not to scream.

"Fuck you, and fuck him as well, I have other things to do," I replied bluntly.

"Unless it's more important than the outcome of your life, get over here, this is more important than anything," she explained. There was a pause before she spoke again. "Please, just come," she pleaded.

"I hate you. I hate Tyson as well, tell him that," I growled before hanging up.

"Are you leaving?" Hazel asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice. Not that I blamed her, it wasn't the first time.

"I won't be gone long, just twenty, thirty minutes maybe," I told her. "Sorry, but this is apparently real important," I apologized.

"Yeah, yeah, just go and hurry up and get back," she said, smiling. We kissed quickly and I left, heading for Tyson's house, ready to throttle both of the older trainers.

In all honesty, I think I deserved a break after the immense amount of bullshit I had experienced in recent times. I reached Tyson's house in five minutes, raised my hand to knock on the door, heard shouting voices inside and hesitated. I decided to listen in on the conversation before making my presence known.

"It has to be kept a secret!" Tyson barked. Shouting it that loudly is a surefire way to keep it secret. Idiot.

"You can't be serious," Scarlett replied. "Are you actually brainless?"

"We started this, we can't just give up now," he growled.

"No, Raynor started it because he's a fucking mental patient," Scarlett corrected him. I didn't miss the cruel little joke she had thrown in.

"That wasn't funny," Tyson told her.

"Neither's playing with someone's life," she shot back.

"Telling him's going to screw him up," Tyson said. I had a feeling they were talking about me. I seemed to be at the center of every shitstorm for the last little while. I had no idea what they were talking about, however.

"He's already crazy anyway," Scarlett pointed out. The feeling that they were talking about me increased.

"The outcome of this war depends on it, we can't tell him, we don't know what's going to happen," Tyson argued.

"I don't give a fuck about this civil war anymore, you're creating this boy's future," Scarlett hissed, so quiet that I barely heard her from outside. "You cannot play God," she added.

"Watch me," Tyson dared her.

This was really starting to freak me out. Someone was playing God with my life? Well, no, not just someone, Tyson. I couldn't take it any more, so I pushed through the front door and stormed into the living room.

Tyson and Scarlett were standing right in the middle of it, faces inches from each other's, practically snarling at one another.

"That was me you were talking about, wasn't it?" I asked, gritting my teeth in a pointless attempt to keep calm.

"What? No," Tyson scoffed, waving my suggestion away, dismissing it as if it were stupid.

"Yes, it was," Scarlett said at the same time. Tyson cast her a murderous look.

"Someone should start explaining," I advised them. They were older, stronger, better trainers, but nevertheless, I was the more intimidating one.

"Look, just go home and forget about -" Tyson started, but I cut him off, not interested in what he had to say. Answers. That's what I was interested in.

"People are usually angry when you screw with their lives," I pointed out. "The best of people become unpredictable when angry, fuck only knows what I'm like," I growled. I wasn't talking crap, I was being honest. I was just itching to release my team or pull out my knife or that gun - I was still carrying it on me. They were far stronger trainers, but I was faster, I could strike first. And I wasn't just a trainer, as Barry had pointed out, I was a fighter.

"It started with Raynor," Scarlett told me. "Shut up," she ordered Tyson as he opened his mouth to say something.

"What did he do?" I asked, violent thoughts still running rampant through my mind.

"He looked into the future with his Hypno," she explained. "It's usually useless because the future can change so often, but Raynor had an idea," she went on.

"And that was...?" I asked, curious now, as well as furious.

"He decided to try and map out all the possible futures that could happen, and the events leading up to those. It was a massive project, but he was determined, and he convinced Tyson and myself to help with out psychics, although he was still the brains behind the whole thing," she recounted.

"Scarlett only stuck with it for a couple of months before she got too scared and quit," Tyson added, scowling at the girl.

"Anyway," she said loudly, casting Tyson a glare. "He found out about the Johto Civil War. The events had already been set in motion, and it was too late to stop it, but he found that he could change the outcome of it," she spoke.

"And that had something to do with me?" I asked.

"More than you would believe," she replied. "There were hundreds of futures, most only varying slightly from each other, but Raynor noticed something. He noticed that the winning side almost always had a boy on their side," she continued.

"And that boy was me," I finished, starting to understand more and more.

"Yes," she admitted. "So, about a year ago, he tracked you down and since then, he's been subtly influencing your life from behind the scenes, manipulating the little things to try and put you on this path, so that the trainers will win," she finished.

"So...Let's recap. The last year of my life has been decided by you three, but mostly Raynor?" I already knew that what I had said was basically correct, but I was looking for confirmation anyway.

"And it stops now," Scarlett spoke.

"Scarlett, you're so noble! Let him plan a life that fucks me backwards for a year, then stop it after I'm already a sick, twisted little fuck!" I screamed. "Who else knows about this?" I asked.

"Just Forrest," Tyson answered.

"And he didn't tell me?" I asked, feeling betrayed. No, Forrest was the moral one. Not even just the moral one, but the overly moral, good, decent, nice one. He would not have kept this from me.

"You neglected to mention that you jinxed Forrest," Scarlett pointed out. Oh, wait. I had heard of jinxing, it could be done with psychics. You could prevent a person from spilling a secret. They would physically unable to say the words, write them, type them, anything short of thinking them. All those times Forrest had opened his mouth to say something and just stayed silent, like he was struggling with his own tongue. He had tried to tell me, but he had been jinxed. Tyson, you bastard.

"Why me? I am the bloody chosen one? Is that it? Did Raynor chose me or something?" I asked abruptly, kicking a nearby chair over out of sheer anger.

"You weren't chosen by anyone," Scarlett told me. I noticed now that she was in tears. I didn't know what her problem was, she wasn't the one that had been fucked over for the past year. "It's just the way you are. You're the kind of person that can do these things. Change the outcomes of wars, that's it. It's not because something or someone has chosen you, it's just the way you are," she explained through her tears.

"Raynor just did what he thought was right!" Tyson burst out, angry. "We all did!"

"Bullshit," I sneered. "What did he even try that fucked his mind?" I asked. Jung had been involved in Raynor's breakdown, I knew that much.

"Time was running out," Tyson told me, glaring at me. "He thought the future was changing, so he tried to give himself psychic abilities because it was the only way he'd be able to work quick enough to set the future in stone. He knew there was a high risk it would just drive him crazy but he tried anyway," he went on, getting upset himself. "Turns out he was wrong and the future he wanted would have happened if you hadn't overheard us today," he continued. "Now? I've got no clue what will happen. Can't even hazard a guess."

I was surprised that Tyson had the gall to be angry at myself or Scarlett. He still genuinely believed that Raynor was in the right. I wondered if it was just because he was a gullible idiot and had did what Raynor told him with regards to all this future stuff.

"Fuck," I sighed, turning around and walking towards the door. That single word was the most hopeless single word i had ever uttered in my life. I simply could not think of anything more adequate to say. Regardless, I managed to hold myself together. I didn't lash out, not even verbally. I walked away.

As I was leaving, my phone started ringing. I answered it, guessing it would be Hazel or maybe Forrest or Adam. I was wrong. It was Reece.

"The government's attacking! Get to the north part of the coast, we're weakest there!" I had to do a double take.

"How heavily are they armed?" I asked, the talk of fighting actually calming me down.

"Guns. Big guns. Explosives. A helicopter, just everything," he told me. "Get up there, there are some volunteer trainers defending at the moment, but they're not you. We need someone who can wreak some havoc, so get down there," he continued, then hung up.

I was fine with this. After finding out that my life was just...I don't even know how to describe how I felt. But after that, some violence was something that I welcomed. I didn't care how bad a person it made me, how long a human being, but I was already welcoming the coming battle.

* * *

I flew into battle atop Skyler. There were more Pokemon on the scene than soldiers, although most were relatively weak Pokemon. I spotted a Scyther and a Charmeleon on the beach, who seemed to be the strongest of the Pokemon present, inflicting the most damage on the opposition. Not the best army, but they were doing well enough.

A few trainers had been hit with bullets, but their Pokemon continued to battle on regardless. The soldiers were outnumbered, but the trainers were outmatched. Overall, it was basically a stalemate. I hoped to change that.

"Go!" I roared, jumping from Skyler's back when he was close to the ground. I threw my other four pokeballs down in mid air and released the rest of my team. I landed, crouched and retrieved the pokeballs. "Up close," I instructed Naja. He was already on his way before I had finished speaking. "Copy," I said to Ares, pointing to Naja. It was a fairly new command that he had learned. It basically meant to follow the lead of another team member, usually Naja. Since Ares couldn't understand complex verbal commands like Naja, I could just tell him to copy Naja and it had the same effect.

I didn't even need to tell River and Cel what to do, they were already spitting water and fire everywhere. River was more of an annoyance. Her water jets were accurate and fast and would knock people over and create general panic. Cel's fire took longer to travel distance and was harder to aim, but it would do more than just knock someone over.

Skyler was just dominating every opponent he could get to. His water attacks were stronger than River's. They would shatter bones and could be lethal at times. The trade off was that he was less accurate with his water attacks. His dragonbreath was just as formidable as Cel's fire, but more accurate. The downside was that he produced less of it. As a bonus, up close, he could just eat limbs and generally mutilate people. Added to this, he could fly, which was a major advantage.

There were stray bullets flying past everywhere, but I was calm. Far calmer than I should have been. Or maybe it was just that I was too angry to care about physical harm to myself. The risk of physical harm was actually very high, but I strolled through the battlefield, knife in hand, just looking for a fight. It was a miracle that I hadn't been hit with a stray bullet.

Then I spotted a familiar face and fear rose up in me. Adam was directing the Scyther, as well as a Growlithe and a Rhyhorn. Why he had Pokemon on him, I had no clue.

"Adam!" I roared over the gunfire. He heard me and turned to look at me. "Why have you got Pokemon on you?" I asked after I had closed the distance between us.

"The Lab gave me them for protection since I was a member of staff," he replied. "They're not fighters though," he went on. "Well, the Scyther is, but that's just her nature, none of them are trained," he explained.

"Fuck!" I shouted, pushing him over to get him out of the way of a stray bullet.

"Thanks," he said as I pulled him back to his feet. "I was nearly -" He started, but was cut off by a bullet tearing through his chest. His legs buckled and he thrown a few feet backwards onto the sand.

"Adam!" I screamed, crouching down next to him. He responded by coughing up a mouthful of blood. I pulled my jacket off, rolled it into a ball and pressed it to his chest as hard as I could. When someone's bleeding, you're supposed to apply pressure, right? He was breathing heavily, the color was draining from his face and he was bleeding from a hole in his chest. I didn't like the look of things.

"Help," he pleaded. I didn't know what else to do, so I just sat there with my jacket absorbing his blood for God only knows how long.

"Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. No, fuck!" I simply couldn't think of anything else to say. The blood flow was lessening with each passing second. Eventually, the blood flow stopped, as did my lifelong friend's breathing.

Even though a stray bullet from the soldiers had killed Adam, it could just as easily have been a stray flamethrower or thunderbolt. It could just as easily have been trainer that killed him, it was just down to chance that it had been a soldier instead.

"Skyler!" I roared. My dragon came back to me, soaked in blood. I got on his back and started to fly. When I had reached what I judged to be a safe distance, I ordered him to land and got off his back. I returned the rest of my team from a distance. I pointed to the helicopter flying overhead, then dragged my finger down until it was pointing at the battlefield. The fight was still raging on.

He understood immediately. He took to the skies and approached the helicopter. The soldiers inside started panicking when they spotted him approaching. They didn't bother with guns, they just hid in the back, probably hoping he passed them by. After all, what were a few pea shooters going to do against an airborne reptile that was bigger than the helicopter itself?

Skyler latched onto part of it with his jaws, managed to get his claws around it as well and just fell, dragging the vehicle with him. He let go just before they hit the ground and took to the skies again. The helicopter didn't have time to right itself, however, and crashed into the ground.

"Fire!" I screamed to him. Despite the distance, he somehow heard. He flew further into the air, getting a safe distance away, then unleashed a dragonbreath attack at the crashed helicopter, which was sitting in the middle of the battlefield. The ensuing explosion killed all soldiers, trainers, and the few Pokemon that had not yet been returned.

I simply watched, too angry and upset to feel guilt. My head was all over the place, I wasn't in a particularly moral mood. I just watched the remaining fire burn.


	61. War On Two Fronts

Shedding Skins

Chapter Sixty One

War On Two Fronts

* * *

"Dammit Wilson!" I shouted. He had managed to put out the campfire yet again. Well, it was really more of a bonfire. We needed something that size to keep our whole team warm.

Wilson blundered into the clearing we were sitting in, a guilty, scared, apologetic look on his face. "Sorry," I apologized. I had been harsh with him. He didn't mean to do things like this, he was just clumsy. Really clumsy.

Wilson was the newest member of my team. He was a colossal, vaguely humanoid creature, a mountain of fat and muscles, covered in a mixture of white fur and green leaves. The Abomasnow was large and strong enough to physically test Skyler, which was a testament to his power. Along with that, Skyler having a double weakness to the beast was another advantage. Those were two of the reasons I had caught him, so I had a team member that could stand up to Skyler if need be.

That stemmed from an incident that had happened a while ago. After the helicopter 'crash', I had left Cianwood and started training again, staying in the routes and mostly avoiding cities, seeing as they were under government control. Just after I left - which was about six months ago now - Naja and Skyler had a fight. Skyler wasn't just fighting to win, he was fighting to kill. Thankfully, my Arbok, along with the other three members of my team, managed to overpower him, but it was scary how much of a fight he could put against four other Pokemon. Soon after, I had caught Wilson as a Snover and trained him for the next six months. He had evolved after three or four months and was rapidly catching up to the rest of my team.

Wilson, while being a fearsome fighter and a daunting sight to behold, was actually a gentle Pokemon. He had a generally peaceful nature, did what he was told and never misbehaved on purpose. The only negative was that he was clumsy at times, which could cause problems, but overall, I was exceedingly lucky to have such a creature on my team.

In the six months since I had left Cianwood, my team had very rarely been in their balls, and had developed as a team. Before, some barely even knew other members of the team. But now? They knew each other well, although they didn't all like each other. In fact, they had even developed their own hierarchy.

Naja was top dog. His intelligence put him above the others, as did his attitude. When it suited him, he was capable of some exceedingly cruel acts. Skyler's raw power put him in second place, however, he had to compete with Cel for that position. Cel outstripped him in terms of intelligence, and was a formidable fighter herself. Sometimes it was close, but Skyler generally retained that second place, leaving Cel in third. River had managed to grab herself fourth place somehow. That left the submissive Wilson in last place. Ares was odd in that he didn't seem to have a place. He had no problems with any team members and stayed friendly with them all.

And the internal conflicts in the team were a constant source of trouble. Naja and Skyler openly despised one another. Naja was on good terms with Cel and Ares, indifferent towards River and Wilson. Skyler was indifferent to Ares, but disliked Cel, River and Wilson. Cel disliked Skyler and openly hated River, while being on good terms with the rest. Ares seemed to be on good terms with the whole team. River was on good terms with Ares, hated Cel and was indifferent to the rest. Wilson was simply terrified of Skyler and Naja, fearful of Ares and Cel - although he was on good terms with them - and seemed wary of the unfriendly River.

They could have made a soap opera about my team.

However, I had not just been wasting my time training during the past six months. No, I had been gathering information on the civil war as well. Any trainers or government workers who passed through were ambushed. I had gotten more used to the routes than ever, could travel quickly and silently through them and knew most like the back of my hand. I could have my knife at their neck before they could lay a hand on a pokeball or gun. At any time, I could be any place in Johto, so no one could find me. If they can't find me, they can't kill me. No one could really stop me.

I was well informed about the civil war. I knew information about both the government and the trainers that the opposing side would die for. I knew that both sides considered me a major threat, as well as relatively unpredictable. They knew I was gathering information, but they didn't know what I planned to do with it and they had no idea what my long term goals were. In all honesty, that was just as much of a mystery to me as it was to them.

I'd also had no word from Hawkes. I knew he was dead. After all, would Hawkes really leave me or the people I care about alone for a full half a year if he was still alive?

On one hand, I was happier than I had been in a long time. No attempts on my life, no one to answer to, no tragedies, just me, my team and training like old times. What problems and worries I did have, I buried them deep in my mind, just not giving a shit anymore.

One the other hand, I was a mess. Those problems and worries that I did have buried in my mind were a constant annoyance, always there, always reminding me. Reminding me that my life up until six months ago had been planned out in advance. Reminding me that my oldest friend was dead, in part because of me. Reminding me that Tyson had never been my friend. Reminding me that I had essentially ditched my own side in this war. Reminding me that I missed the people I cared about like crazy. Reminding me that I missed Hazel especially.

"Guys, food, now," I ordered them. They knew the drill. Skyler flew off on his own to find food for himself. Because of his immense size, he had to either find a very large Pokemon to kill and eat, or many smaller ones. It was easier if he hunted for his own food. Cel, Naja and Ares set off to find a large Pokemon to take down and eat together. That worked out well, the three of them got on well with each other. River set off to find her own dinner, she didn't need much in the way food, she could survive on a few Ratatta a day. Wilson just wandered off to find plants to eat.

That left me alone, just sitting on a fallen tree in front of our bonfire. Naja and Cel would bring back some meat for me. They were the only ones smart enough to figure out that I needed to eat as well. Ares and Wilson simply didn't think of things like this. They were too simple. Skyler and River were smarter, but still not smart enough, and even if they were, wouldn't care enough to bring me food anyway.

As I was sitting there, just thinking, I heard footsteps. Heavy steps, a man. He probably thought he was being quiet, but the forests had become my home over the past half a year. It was my territory. I couldn't be taken by surprise here. I gripped the knife at my belt, but didn't draw it yet.

I heard the footsteps stop behind me and judged where the man was standing. I pulled out my knife and stabbed it into where I hoped his leg was. I hit my target. He screamed and dropped his crowbar, but did not fall. I turned around, picked up his dropped weapon and stood up. He pulled the knife out of his leg at the same time. He pulled the knife back, preparing to stab me, but I swung the crowbar into his already injured leg before he could attack. This caused him to fall. I stomped on his hand, causing him to let go of the knife. I retrieved my weapon and placed one booted foot on his neck.

"You better start talking," I growled. He was wearing the familiar hockey mask with the smile that signified he was one of Hawkes' guys. "Why did you attack me?"

"Was tracking this trainer with a real powerful psychic, but I lost track of them a while ago. I was just passing through," he gasped, both because of his panic, injury and the boot on his throat. "Saw you, Hawkes wants you dead, so..." he trailed off.

"You not heard about what I can do to people?" I asked. I was just using fear as a weapon, I wasn't actually planning to mutilate the guy. Maiming would be far too much effort. I had mellowed over the past six months. However, another part of me was genuinely curious. How much did his guys really know about me?

"I've seen it," he said, horrified. Oh, a survivor that had faced me?

"Was it the one that got his mask burned onto his face?" I asked with a little chuckle. I didn't actually find it funny, but I knew the little laugh would serve to horrify the guy even further. Getting inside people's heads isn't as hard as you would believe. He gave a frightened nod. "He tried to murder a little girl, you think that's okay?" I asked, enjoying his fear. He hurriedly shook his head.

I took my boot from his neck. Then swung it full force into his throat. I swung the crowbar down and hit him in the ribs with it a few times. That should be enough punishment to prevent him from trying to follow me.

"Call an ambulance before you die," I advised him, turning around and starting to walk away. "Guys!" I called to the rest of my team. "Forget food, we need to go!" I wasn't going to take the chance that the thug hadn't been alone. I was highly doubtful that he had friends in the area, but better to be safe than sorry.

* * *

The thug had attacked me on route thirty-eight, so I had Ares quickly fly me over the forest to route thirty-five. That was far enough away.

"Hey," I said, releasing Naja. He looked over to me, impassive. I kept Ares out, but Skyler, River, Cel and Wilson stayed in their pokeballs for the time being. It was easier only having those two out for the time being. "Any signs of a strong psychic?" I asked. Naja had been able to understand English for almost the full time he had been trained, but I was now starting to understand his native language as well.

He let out a flat hiss. _"Obviously, you idiot," _would be quite an accurate translation.

I didn't like the thought of a psychic. Anything that could map out my future, Cerletti aside, was not something I wanted near me. Especially something that was extremely powerful to boot. I wanted to get rid of that thing and get some information out of the trainer if they had any. Failing that, I'd probably just steal their money and run.

Naja led the way, tongue flicking out every so often to taste the air. After so long with him, I had figured out a lot of how he operated. He could find things that I couldn't, mostly due to superior senses and reasoning skills. Even a future seeing psychic had nothing on the genius intellect of Naja.

Naja led us out of the route and into some unnamed forest. The colossal cobra and dragonfly with me were enough to persuade any native beast to stay away from us. Naja continued forward, tasting the air less and less frequently. He was confident about where our destination was, he didn't need to use his senses to check anymore.

Eventually, we arrived at a large cave. I took out a torch from my bag and turned it on before venturing in. If something decided to attack us, I wanted to be able to see what I was stabbing. We just followed Naja, who was making his way through the twisting caverns without tasting the air once. He was confident about where we were heading, even in the labyrinthine cave.

We suddenly stumbled into a larger cavern, and what was inside surprised even me. I wouldn't go so far as to say it shocked or even sickened me really, but it was a bit of a surprise.

A yellow, humanoid figure with a furry, white collar was sitting cross legged in the middle of the cave. Around the cave, people were chained up, hanging from the ceiling or bound to the wall by their chains. Little remained of the clothes that they had once wore. I did, however, recognize the kind of clothing they wore. Outdoor clothing. The youngest were a year or two younger than me, the oldest a few years older. Trainers. Well, they used to be anyway.

Most were asleep. The few that were awake were moaning and crying.

I recognized the creature sitting in the middle. It looked more or less the same as every other Hypno, but there was a presence in my mind. The presence was unique, and I had felt it before.

"Jung?" I asked, already knowing the answer. It nodded. It was indeed Raynor's old psychic.

_"I have seen the outcome of this. You will not emerge victorious," _he said into my head.

"Hey, nose, shut it. What's the deal?" I asked him. I was aware that I was in a dangerous situation. The thing could basically break me in two with its mind. Naja wouldn't be much harder. Ares would probably be enough to beat it, but could he do it before Jung killed me or Naja?

_"Raynor wanted me to make sure I carried out his will," _the psychic explained. Oh, wonderful. In other words, he was there to manipulate my life, making sure I ended up doing whatever Raynor planned. Being the stubborn bastard that I was, I would now refuse to do such a thing on principle.

"And that involved kidnapping children?" I responded.

_"They are having nightmares that I am feeding on. I know it is immoral, but I needed the extra strength that it offered me," _he elaborated.

"Right. You fuck with my future, I make sure you end up dead," I said. "Got it?"

_"I can remove your very soul from your body," _he stated.

"How about I have my Yanmega remove your eyes from your skull?" I countered. I felt the thing poking about in my mind, yet there was nothing at all I could do to stop it.

_"I have just read your mind. If you had been cooperative, you could have saved the future. But sadly, that is not the case," _the voice echoed inside my head.

"Eyes!" I quickly shouted at Ares. He flitted towards the Hypno, but not before its eyes started glowing and I felt myself raised off the ground a few inches. My eyes shot open, my mouth stretched wide open, I involuntarily flung my arms wide, puffed my chest out and threw my head back. I felt something in my throat, my vision went white, and I simultaneously felt myself floating in the air and hitting the ground.

Then, I died.

I saw myself hitting the ground, eyes wide open, glazed over. My chest wasn't moving. Naja was next to me in a moment. He struck me with his tail, and not gently. That would have left a massive bruise had my body been alive. My corpse didn't respond. He deduced that I was definitely dead and bowed his head, seemingly in a show of respect or something. The display of affection touched me.

At the same time, Ares was mutilating Jung. The six foot dragonfly had attached his six legs to Jung's head and had plucked out and devoured both eyes with his extending mandibles. Jung was screaming and clutching at his empty, bloody eye sockets, sending blasts of telekinetic energy everywhere, firing - quite literally - blindly.

I tried to give him the command to kill the psychic, but no sound came out of my mouth. Actually, I no longer had a mouth. I had no physical form, not even eyes, yet I could still see.

Oh God, I was having an out of body experience. I was a soul. The thing had kicked my soul out of my body.

I found that I could move. I had no physical form, but I was there. I was a presence, and I could move my presence. It was slow going, but I was making progress towards my body. I would reach it and simply crawl back in. Easy enough, right?

I was wrong.

Climbing back into my body was not easy. It was dark and difficult, it felt like pushing against a brick wall, except painful as well as difficult. I'm not sure how I experienced pain without any nerve endings or anything, but I did. Nevertheless, I managed to sink through the barrier anyway. Little by little, it was like I was simply melding into the barrier. Then, coming out the other side was just as grueling. It was like something was holding me back and I had to struggle against it.

Quite suddenly, however, my vision went white, then slowly dimmed back down until I was staring at the cave ceiling. I was looking at it with my eyes, though, not through my soul or spirit or whatever. I was about to be thankful that I was alive again, but then the pain of Naja's tail strike caught up with me. I was bathed in sweat from the effort of getting back into my body, and my eyes hurt as well. Probably because I hadn't blinked since I had died.

I had died. This thought amused me slightly.

I sat up and felt my side protest with pain. I lifted my t-shirt to look at my side. It was already bruising.

"Thanks," I said sarcastically to my Arbok, who happily ignored me. Ares flitted back and hovered between us, idle. He seemed oblivious to the whole ordeal. He had probably been too busy devouring Jung to notice. I looked over to what remained of the Hypno and confirmed that my guess had been correct. A leg and a half remained. The rest was presumably in Ares' stomach.

I released the other four members of my team, mentally called Cerletti and looked around at the trainers chained up everywhere.

"Wilson, Skyler," I called. The two behemoths looked down to me. I grabbed a nearby chain and mimed snapping it in half. Wilson understood and happily went to help the terrified trainers. He would much rather help ease the pain of another person or Pokemon, as opposed to helping fend an opponent off. He was really too peaceful for my misfit team of monsters.

While they went about freeing the trainers, I just sat there in wonder.

I had died, but I survived.


	62. Devils On Both Shoulders

Shedding Skins

Chapter Sixty Two

Devils On Both Shoulders

* * *

_"It's because you're a sensitive," _Cerletti told me telepathically.

"A what?" I asked, not following.

_"A sensitive. A human with minor psychic abilities. I just assumed you knew," _she replied.

"So that's why I could get back into my body?" I could not possibly have psychic powers. That would be ludicrous.

_"Yes, your body was technically dead. Did you really not know you were a sensitive?" _She seemed dumbfounded that I had been oblivious to my apparent psychic abilities.

"I had no idea," I replied honestly. "What can I do?" Let's face it, I was hoping for tearing houses apart, rupturing brains, breaking people in two, all with my mind.

_"Well, that's the whole reason you can call me, regardless of location. You got used to teleportation quickly, and that's the reason why. You can feel it when another psychic is looking around in your mind. You did that trick with your soul earlier, although that was quite advanced. You can probably do other things too, different sensitives have different skills. With practice, I think you could be talented, but you won't practice," _she told me. I knew she was right.

Not really the kind of abilities I was hoping for, but obviously better than nothing.

"You're right," I admitted. "Okay, could you do me a favor and get these trainers out of here?" I asked. Wilson and Skyler had already freed them all and they were just sitting there in their rags, looking terrified. "I don't even care where you take them, just somewhere where they can make their way back to a town or city or something soon," I went on.

_"Where are you going?" _She asked.

"I don't know, just away from here," I responded.

_"I'll take them away then," _she said into my head.

"You can feel free to tag along with us for a while," I told her, although I knew she was already aware of the fact. "Or if you'd rather not, that's fine as well," I added.

_"I have other things to do, I apologize. I have a family now," _she told me proudly.

"Really?" I had expected my offer to be rejected, but it was good news about her family, if a little surprising.

_"Yes. I have a partner, he's a Gallade. And I have a son as well," _she informed me, voice in my head full of pride. _"His name is Linus," _she added, a little hesitant. I couldn't help but smile at that.

"Hurry then, I'm sure they're missing you," I grinned.

* * *

Some weeks later, I was on route forty-four, just training. Not much had happened really. I had tried more than once to move things with my mind, but no attempt had yet been successful. I came to the conclusion that my abilities were crap.

However, I had jumped a passing trainer and found out that no one knew what had happened the day I left Cianwood. They had assumed that stray bullets or Pokemon attacks had hit the helicopter and caused it to crash. Since my body wasn't found, they assumed I had survived and left for other reasons. All the witnesses had been killed in the explosion.

The war was also progressing. The government had a few experienced trainers on their side, working essentially as Pokemon soldiers, but there weren't enough to make all that much of a difference. Hell, I could take most of the government's trainers one on one. The trainers outnumbered them and outclassed them.

Where the government's strength lay was in its weaponry. They had everything from the standard guns and explosives to nuclear and biological weapons. The trainers had a hard time beating that, but the government also had a hard time beating sudden hurricanes and heatwaves.

The war was fought mostly in small skirmishes. Maybe half a dozen on each side, weapons versus Pokemon. One side would typically have a trick up their sleeve which they would use when they were losing. Once they used that, the opposing side would pull a trick of their own. This would continue until one side basically ran out of tricks, then you have a winner.

That was the war in a nutshell, and so far it was basically a stalemate. The two sides were just killing each other. It didn't look good, it looked like both sides would burn out while trying to extinguish the opposition.

"Right! Wilson, go!" I called. We were in a clearing, perfect for training. Well, this was more of a test, but still. Perfect for what we were doing.

Wilson wrapped his arms abound a tall, but somewhat thin tree. It was only just wide enough for me to wrap my own arms around, but it was tall, taller than most trees. The Abomasnow tightened his grip on the trunk and heaved. The ground cracked a little. Another heave, and large portions of the plant's roots became visible. A third tug finally pulled the tree out of the ground.

"River! Come on!" I encouraged the Vaporeon. Wilson swung the tree down at her, so she unleashed a monstrous water attack that slammed into the middle of the tree. When it hit, the pillar of liquid broke apart and soaked everything close to it, and also knocked the tree from Wilson's grasp. It toppled back and fell behind him, crashing into the other trees that it had once stood beside.

River had really become a lot stronger. She was still the weakest of the team, but she was no longer useless compared to the other members of my band of monsters. Even Wilson, who was considerably less experienced that River, was stronger than her by now.

"Cel, do it!" Cel released an inferno from her mouth at some of the nearby trees, starting a forest fire. River was there just in case things went badly, but I was confident that things would all go according to plan.

"Ares, now!" Ares came out of nowhere, flying at his stupidly quick speed as per usual, and went straight for the portion of the forest that was on fire. He flew right through the flaming trees and came out the other side without so much as a singe. However, when he had flown through the trees, he had carved a path through the fire, putting some of it out with the air currents generated by his wings. There was a clear tunnel through the flaming trees that he had created. He flew at the fire again, clearing another path. Then another, and another, until there were only embers left.

This next test was a little more risky, but I was still confident it would work.

"Skyler!" He knew what I wanted him to do. He launched a stream of blue-green fire directly at Naja. The two disliked each other, and Skyler would be happy enough if Naja screwed up or was overpowered, so he unleashed the most ferocious dragonbreath he could manage. Dragon fire was not like normal fire. It burned for longer and was harder to put out, could even resist water, depending on the circumstances.

"Naja, it's time!" I knew that the cobra had probably figured that out already, but I felt the need to tell him anyway. He inhaled deeply, then blew out a cloud of fog, creating a haze that engulfed him. Skyler's dragonbreath attack flew right into the haze and seemingly disintegrated, leaving Naja totally unharmed. Dragon fire may not have been vulnerable to water, but it most certainly was to ice.

My team were really coming along. Between them, they had an arsenal that could take out pretty much everything thrown their way, as long as they had a little guidance, co-ordination and planning from myself. No wonder both sides were scared of our little family. Really, that's what I considered them, my family. Naja and I were like the parents, Cel and Skyler like the mean older siblings, Ares like the normal middle child, River like the moody teenager and Wilson the annoying youngest brother.

"You were a tough prick before," I heard a familiar voice say. I turned to the trees and saw a familiar trainer step out of the shadows. "But now? You could turn this war around tomorrow," the slightly younger trainer went on. He wore a red and white striped top and old, faded jeans with scuffed work boots. His brown hair was longer than it had been the last time I had seen him, it was almost hanging in his eyes now. He now reminded me of me, only less experienced, angry, insane and damaged. Basically me when I was younger.

"I could," I agreed. "But I'm not going to," I told Billy. A dark look crossed his face, and his Reuniclus floated out from the trees and stopped behind him, eyeballs glowing inside its gelatinous body.

"Why the fuck not?" He growled.

"Because I've had enough of both sides' bullshit," I replied honestly.

"You don't get just how many are going to die in the crossfire, do you?" He asked.

"Oh, I do. I just don't care," I answered flatly. I was through caring about people. Fair enough, I hadn't exactly been poster boy for heroism before, but now I was truly and utterly done, even more so than before. People were dying? I couldn't care less.

"People will die!" He screamed. "And you are going to let it happen just because you don't agree with either side," he hissed.

"I'm content," I told him. "While the masses slug it out and slowly destroy one another, I can just live in the forest and be with my team," I went on. "If you had any sense, you'd do the same," I finished.

"I'm a better person than that," he claimed.

"I guess I used to be like that. The riots, the mission, the battles, I fought in them and risked my life," I reminded him. "But I just don't care anymore. All I want to do is train," I sighed wearily.

"Just..." Billy trailed off, stressfully running a hand through his hair. "Please, please, just come back," he begged. "If you don't, thousands will die, and if we lose, trainers will have their teams confiscated, that's who we're fighting for, our teams," he went on, pleading with me. "Imagine you didn't have your team. That's what could happen to everyone if you don't come back," he finished.

I was silent for a few moments. "How did you find me?" I asked eventually, ignoring his previous statement and, in doing so, making it clear that my mind was not meant to be changed.

"I'm a trainer as well, I know how to navigate the routes, and we're similar in a lot of ways as well. It took me two months to find you, and here I am," he told me. He seemed defeated. He knew I wasn't coming back. I think he had realized that both sides had an equal chance of winning and that his team may well be taken from him. I think he also realized that even if the trainers won, it would be a hollow victory. The casualties would be in the thousands at the very least, buildings and country would be destroyed and our region wouldn't be the same for a long time after it.

I saw his hand move just an inch.

"Don't even try it," I warned him.

"What?" He asked innocently. I saw straight through him.

"You were going to go for your pokeballs," I stated. It was not a guess. "I'm not stupid. Your orders would have been to try and recruit me, if not, then kill me so that I don't join the opposition," I explained. "And that I have information that could bring down either side," I bragged. "Still, the bottom line is that you were going to try and kill me."

His hand relaxed. My entire team was out already. His Reuniclus was the only Pokemon of his that he had out. He had realized that he was most certainly outnumbered, and clearly outclassed as well.

"Things have gotten so much worse since you left," he told me.

"I know -" I started, but he cut me off.

"No, you don't, this isn't about who's winning," he interrupted. "If I come back and tell them I've let you go, Tyson's going to execute me," he told me. He wasn't scared, just angry. Much like myself. When I find out someone wants to kill me, I get angry, not scared. "Since you left, he's turned into a psycho. Reece got injured and was in hospital for a long time, so Tyson took over. Reece is back now, but Tyson's in charge, Reece can't do much," he went on.

So my departure had made Tyson unhappy. Can't say it bothered me, he deserved whatever he got for trying to play with my life. Raynor too, but he'd been punished with insanity already. Scarlett had redeemed herself in my eyes. She had told me everything.

"Just lie. Tell them I escaped. It's me, they'd be surprised if you were successful," I replied. "Or better yet, don't go back. Just wander and train," I suggested. Really, I wasn't expecting him to go with either suggestion. I fully expected him to ignore me and try to kill me anyway. He seemed like he would die for his cause. Still, I didn't want to fight the trainer. I considered him a friend.

"I can't do either of those," he told me. Just as I had thought. "The trainers have to win," he went on. "It's nothing person, I like you, Linus, but you know what I have to do."

"If you attack me, you won't win," I warned him. "My team are all out already. You'll just end up getting some of your team killed, so don't," I went on.

The battle started before either of us had given the command. Naja took it upon himself to throw himself at Billy, but his Reuniclus wasn't happy with that. The thing gripped Naja around the neck. Naja wouldn't go down easy, though, and started snapping at the psychic, fangs dripping acid.

I started thinking on my feet immediately. Billy was already moving to release the rest of his team. Cel was already running at Billy, fire gathering in her mouth. Skyler was preparing for the battle ahead with relish, Wilson fearfully braced himself for it. Ares looked to the psychic that was struggling with his teammate. River looked to me for instruction.

The Reuniclus was presumably the most powerful member of Billy's team, and had a type advantage against Naja. Naja wouldn't be able to take many metaphorical punches from a psychic before he'd need bailing out. Ares probably didn't realize how much danger Naja was in, but moved in to defend his comrade anyway, just in case. He opened up a massive gash on the psychic's shoulder with a night slash. It released Naja from its grip and fell to the ground, no longer able to hover.

At the same time, Billy tried to release more team members, but his actions were interrupted by a stream of fire from Cel. He managed to dodge it, but before he could make another move for his pokeballs, Cel collided with him, knocked him to the ground and pinned him there.

River just sat there impassively. Skyler and Wilson relaxed, the former disappointed, the latter relieved. Ares hovered next to Naja, who cast a hateful glare at the fallen Reuniclus. Cel continued to pin Billy to the floor. I noticed that his pokeballs were lying scattered a few meters from him. They had either been knocked away when Cel tackled him, or Cel had the sense to remove them. I didn't know which.

"Guys!" I called. Once I had their attention, I returned them all to their pokeballs and strode up to Billy. He scrambled to his feet as I approached. All I had wanted to do was talk, but he was too stubborn. He pulled out a gun and pointed it at my chest. By this time I was right in front of him.

I grabbed his wrist and pushed his gun arm away from me before he could fire off a shot. He threw a hook with his free hand, but I ducked under it and hit him in the face with a handful of rabbit punches when I came back up, knocking him to the ground.

"I'm seriously disappointed," I told him, meaning it. "I had thought you were smarter than this," I continued, pressing one boot to his wrist to prevent him from moving his gun hand.

"He's screwed no matter what he does," I heard someone say. I recognized the voice. The only way I can describe it is as nasty.

"Connie," I snarled. "What has this got to do with you?" I would be ramming my knife through half her internal organs if Billy hadn't been there. I still needed to make sure he didn't shoot me before I could do anything else.

"Well, the government want you, and they're paying me if I can bring you in," she replied with a smirk.

"So that they can execute me? Piss off," I responded, wishing more than anything that I could just murder the thief.

"No, they want you on their side. They want you to be one of the few elite trainers working with them," she explained. "They have some already, but most of the strong trainers joined the Cianwood faction, and none of the trainers they have at the moment are as strong as you anyway," she continued. "And, you know, none of them have that signature psychopath factor of yours that makes you one of the most feared trainers in the country," she finished.

"Yeah? Well you can stick it," I spat.

"What's the alternative? Joining the trainers? Joining Hawkes?" She asked, laughing a little at her last suggestion.

"The alternative is what I've been doing for the past half a year," I growled. "That's what I'm going to continue to do."

"Linus, you're a big player in this," she pointed out. "You're up there with Diamond, Shenzi, Reece, Tyson, Hawkes, all the big players. You're not at the kiddie table any more, you're up there with the adults," she spoke. "You can't just ignore that. You can try, but eventually you'll get dragged back into this whole shitstorm, so what's the point in putting it off?"

I would not join any side. The trainers had manipulated a whole year of my life and would have done so for longer had I not found out about it and ruined their plan. The government wanted to essentially make my family - my team - illegal. Fair enough, i could get a job as one of their trainers, but I simply refused to be Diamond's little bitch. And Hawkes? I knew the suggestion was just a sick little joke on Connie's part. I knew he was dead. But still, I hated that man. I knew I had already killed him, but I thirsted for vengeance still.

I was stuck. Connie was behind me, but out of my reach. She was probably armed. If I refused again, she's realize it was a lost cause and probably shoot me instead. If I turned around to face her, Billy would get up and shoot me. I didn't have time to release my team. Why had I been stupid enough to return them? Really?

If I crouched to retrieve Billy's gun, Connie would shoot. If my hand went to my pokeballs, Connie would shoot. If I ran at her, Connie would shoot. I was more or less screwed.

"I'm not putting anything off, I'm not joining either side," I persisted.

"You're so clever, and you're so good at looking past the surface and seeing what other people don't bother to look for, but you're in denial," she argued. "Sooner or later, you will help one side or the other win, it's going to happen," she maintained.

"So you suggest joining the government?" I asked.

"Yes. Your team will still be in your possession, you'll be allowed to train legally, the government will give you access to the very best training facilities, and you'll get to rip Tyson apart if you ever get the chance," she told me. "And with the government training facilities combined with your already outstanding training talent, you could rip Tyson's team apart," she added.

I had no idea how she knew about Tyson, but the thought of tearing him a new one was appealing. I harbored a great deal of hate and rage and resentment towards a lot of people, and he was the focus of it at the moment. In the past it had been Hawkes, to a certain extent Diamond, but now it was Tyson.

"How do you -" I started, but she cut me off.

"I know these things. There was a reason you left Cianwood and he was it," she said.

"Linus, you can't seriously be considering this," Billy panted, still lying on the ground by my feet. I took my foot from his wrist and swung it into his jaw, knocking him out, as well as a few teeth.

"Why not?" I said to Connie in a broken voice. "I'll do it." I strode over to her and stood right in front of her, face full of hate and rage and defeat. We were mere inches apart.

"Good boy," she whispered. She took her hand off of the gun at her belt, relaxing. That was her problem. She was too sure she could manipulate me, push my buttons, get under my skin, and she could, to a great extent, but not quite great enough.

I pulled my knife out and smashed the handle into her jaw. Not quite a knock out, but close enough. She hit the ground and couldn't get back up. She was probably dizzy, seeing stars.

"I side with me, no one else," I growled.


End file.
